


reversal(paused)

by korrasforevergirl



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/korrasforevergirl/pseuds/korrasforevergirl
Summary: “...Do you feel anything, Adora? Like, any energy?”“... No, why? Do you feel something?”, Adora replies, looking around as she tries, but fails to feel anything around her. “You looking for it?”“Yeah, sorry.. I would've told you, but I wasn't even sure about it till now. I think it's just over those bushes”, she says as she grabs Adora's hand.Adora shrugs, “That's fine, I trust you... You wouldn't bring me out here unless it wasn't important.” They crouch through the bushes and stop on the other side. “It looks like a mask...”Catra grabs the object, holding it up curiously. “Huh. It's just some old mask? I guess this is cool. I'm gonna try it on.” She pushes the mask on, letting it push her bangs back. “Well?”





	1. the mask

**Author's Note:**

> basically a role reversal where adora already has her sword, dormant, and catra finds the mask and when she CORRECTLY puts it on, it transforms her and we see how it goes from there.
> 
> OKAY so I lost the will for this. I am still very interested in Adorpia, but I am lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora lets herself be shoo'd out of Shadow Weaver’s chambers and the door closes behind her. She frowns, looking down at the ground as she hugs herself. Not only has she lost Catra, but now Shadow Weaver seemed so...cold to her. The woman who raised her like her own since she was a baby. She shakes as she tries to hold back her tears, waiting as she was ordered.
> 
> About ten minutes pass and she hears footsteps. She looks up to see a taller woman, wearing a Force Captain badge. “Um, hi, you must be Adora?”, she asks, seeming unsure. “Shadow Weaver assigned me to be your partner. My name is Scorpia.” She extends a pincer out, giving her a small smile.
> 
> “Oh. Right. I'm Adora, nice to meet you Scorpia”, she responds, her voice shaky. She wants to reach out and accept it, to offer hers as well, but she can't.

“I can’t believe Shadow Weaver made you Force Captain— Well, I can, but— You know what I mean. It was kind of sudden, wasn’t it? Didn’t think it would happen for a few months”, Catra bounces on her heels, keeping out of her friend’s arms as she tries to hold the badge up to the sunset. It glows with it, light greenish yellow. “And you get a mission immediately? You know you can’t go without me, right? I’ll sneak out there if I have to.” Their dream is finally put into motion. It won’t be long before they’re taking over the Horde, and then finally Etheria. Catra herself isn’t one to have any plans, she just rolls with whatever happens. Adora wants to be Force Captain, she becomes one. Maybe now Shadow Weaver will listen to her when she asks her to leave Catra alone. The magicat can only hope, that is. It’s not that she relies on Adora to keep her safe, but... Yeah, maybe it is that sometimes. It’s not like she doesn’t keep Adora safe herself, though. She helps her through every little anxiety she goes through. She soothes every panic attack and is there for every nightmare. In that sense, they’re even, right? They promised they would keep each other safe when they were little, and it’s been kept ever since.

Adora rolls her eyes, giving it up. She sighs, but smiles as she walks up beside Catra at the edge of their little slice of heaven, high above the mess of the Horde. “Oh, you will? You’re gonna keep up with my tank?”, she scoffs, raising an eyebrow as she playfully smirks. She throws an arm over Catra’s shoulder and leans against the railing. “I might be able to convince Shadow Weaver to let me bring you guys with me. She knows I’m responsible, so... I’d say get ready. Thaymor isn’t going to conquer itself, is it?”

Catra pins the badge back onto Adora’s jacket and leaps from her half embrace onto the railing. “You’re damn right it won’t. You and me, we can do anything. We’ll kick those Rebel scum asses!” The two of them burst into a fit of giggles, feeling particularly excited for the next couple days. “Will you let me drive the tank, though? And let me blow up stuff!?” Her pupils go wide in excitement at the idea. “I can’t wait to blow up their defense!!”

“Alright, alright, yeah. Do you even know how to drive a tank, though?”, Adora asks, crossing her arms. There’s a moment of silence and she snickers, “That’s what I—“

Adora yelps as Catra pounces on her, tackling her to the ground. “I’ll figure it out!!! I promise!! Yes!!! I’m going to blow up stuff!!”, the magicat yells as she sits up in a half straddle over Adora’s hips, shaking her fists in the air. Adora raises an eyebrow and smiles, genuinely happy to see Catra so excited for something. She seems really happy for them, and that makes her happy too. She doesn’t really know how to feel about becoming a Force Captain, though. It’s something Shadow Weaver has pushed her to since she was young. Her words would even echo in her head sometimes when she thought about doing something fun, but was ‘bad’. At least, to Shadow Weaver and the Horde it was bad. ‘This isn’t the behavior a Force Captain would keep, now is it?’ She’s made thorough plans for cleaning up her toys, for getting dressed and cleaned in a timely fashion and even how to eat her ration bars to get the most use out of a single bar. All practice for her ‘promising future’ as Shadow Weaver would say.

“Hello? Adora, you alive in there?”, Catra asks as she knocks on Adora’s skull with her knuckles as if it were a door. Adora blinks, shaking herself from her thoughts. “Where’d you go?”

She sighs softly, sitting up and rolling her shoulders. “I’m fine, it’s just, I don’t know what to work for now. I don’t really know what’s after Force Captain.” Adora holds her hands together, her nerves getting to her. “I don’t really have anything to work towards now.”

Catra shrugs, placing a hand on Adora’s. “Hey, hey... Don’t worry about that now, okay? We’ll figure it out when we get back. Come on, let’s go get something to eat. They don’t have the grey ones, but they have red ones?”

Almost instantly, Adora feels calmed by Catra’s hand and she nods. She’s always been there to help slow her thoughts down. “Yeah... Yeah, okay. You’re right, we’ll figure it out.” She lets Catra pull her to her feet and the two make their way back down from their secret place.

After their last rations for the day, Catra helps Adora get comfortable in her new room. Every Force Captain gets their own room, separate from the barracks of the cadets. “Okay, I know what will help”, Catra declares after they’ve been sitting on the bed for about an hour and Adora still looked bothered and uncomfortable. She smirks at her claws and goes to the head board of the bed.

“Catra? What are you going to do?”, Adora asks cautiously. Her eyes flit back and forth between Catra’s hand and the bed nervously. The magicat doesn’t say a word, she just starts to carve. Adora gasps, “Catra, no!! I don’t think we’re allowed to do anything to these beds!! I mean, we probably weren’t supposed to do anything to the one in the barracks but these are special rooms!”

Catra snickers, “It’s your room, dummy. Shadow Weaver won’t do anything to you, you’re practically her kid. Come on.” She waves Adora over and points at the carving. She used one of her claws to carve a little drawing of Adora. “Here, you do me.” She offers her hand to Adora, smiling softly. “Use my claw, it’s finer than that old sword probably.”, she says, nodding her head towards the blade in the corner of the room. Its pommel is faded gold and the jewel at the base of the sword is dull as well. Shadow Weaver gave it to her for holding best record for five years in the training zone.

“....Alright”, Adora agrees and holds Catra’s hand. She shifts closer and starts to smile as she aims the finger and uses it to draw Catra’s face behind her own. “How’s that?” She looks to Catra for approval, hoping she did her justice in the carving.

Catra snickers, smirking. “It’s perfect, Adora. As usual, everything you do is perfect”, she says and sighs dramatically, flopping back on Adora’s bed.

Adora scoffs, laying beside her and crossing her arms. “Do not.”

“Yeah you do, don’t deny it. You’re always so kind and everyone loves you”, Catra says and looks to her. “You don’t have to worry about anything.” When Adora doesn’t say anything back, she frowns. “Right? Adora? What do you worry about?”

Adora sighs, softening as she turns to face Catra. “I worry about a lot of things, actually, and you usually help me not worry. I worry about keeping you out of trouble, I worry about keeping out of trouble, doing the right thing, keeping myself fit, picking the right times to eat, who I’ll meet in the future that I don’t know here, and... Sometimes... I worry about if we’ll stop being close one day. I mean, what would I do without you?”, she confesses, awkwardly smiling and laughing at the end to make her worries seem like nothing.

Catra blinks, her bright blue and yellow eyes still focused on Adora’s face. “Wow. That... That was a lot. You think a lot more than what I thought you did. Huh.” She notices Adora’s face twist into that familiar amused and annoyed face, one that lets her know that she’s got her again. “Oh please, Adora, you’re probably the best one here.” She grunts as she gets up, her tail swishing behind her as she thinks about what she said. Shadow Weaver made sure I know you’re supposed to be the best. I don't know why you worry, honestly... “Well, I guess I better go back to the barracks.” Her ears lower at that, knowing she probably won't sleep tonight without being by Adora.

“Catra, wait”, Adora says, gently grabbing her wrist. “Stay with me? Please? I don’t think I could sleep by myself. You can move in with me?" Her voice almost sounds desperate, sadness brimming, as well as hope.

“Like I’d ever leave you”, Catra turns and gently presses one of her fingers against Adora’s forehead. “Dumbass. Don’t get all sappy on me, with your big dumb soft blue eyes. I better get a spot in the bed now since it’s a little bigger than our old ones.” Adora’s grin sends her heart soaring, she knows she’s done something good. They laugh together and Catra jumps back onto the bed. “Why do you always make that dumb face when I touch your forehead?”

Adora huffs and narrows her eyes, “Well, why do _you_ always touch my forehead??”

Catra blinks and flusters a bit, feeling a little called out. She loves the dumb, confused, innocent face Adora makes when she touches her forehead. It was cute and funny. She can’t really explain why, though. Adora would probably never understand. “...Why did _your_ forehead _touch_ my finger?”

That shuts Adora up for a moment, genuinely confusing her. “...I.. I don’t know.” This stirs a loud laugh from Catra, who holds her stomach as tears come to her eyes from the laughter.

"Just shut up", she squeaks out breathlessly and tackles Adora, slowly crawling over her. Adora laughs as well now and they start play fighting as usual, always ending with Catra sitting on top of Adora and their hands together, interlocked by the fingers. A comfortable silence falls over the two and they just smile at each other. Catra eventually breaks the silence, a small cough. "It’s nice we can be alone and not worry about waking anyone up from laughing and stuff..."

Adora nods, her eyes soft as she looks up at Catra. “Yeah. We can do all our best friend stuff now since we have our own room.”

Catra’s cheeks flush somewhat red at that and she nods, too. “Uh, yeah, that too.” She lowers herself to lay partially on Adora and the space beside her. _I need to talk to her about that_. She nestles her face into Adora’s neck as she does when they’re on the balcony and soon enough, she starts purring. She smiles as she feels Adora turn and meld into her. Adora’s hand finds her back and she knows where it’s going as it reaches under her tunic. Her purrs grow louder and she can’t fight the grin as Adora starts to scratch her back just above where her tail is, before her pants. She wraps one of her legs around Adora’s and wraps her arms around her waist. She kneads the bed between Adora’s side and her arm and feels the happiest she thinks she ever has.

The next morning, Adora wakes up slower than usual. The softly vibrating weight on her chest kept her nightmares at bay through the night and she smiles when she sees Catra is still asleep. “Catra?”, she whispers.

“Yeah? You alright?”, Catra responds almost immediately, shifting so she’s able to look at her. She sees the blonde’s smile and knows she’s okay. She smiles back and leans close, pressing her mouth against Adora’s as she’s seen people do in secret. She told Adora it was just a best friend thing, when she herself knows it’s... It means something more. She talked to Lonnie about it before.

Adora returns the thing and gently touches Catra’s ears. She notices Catra tense, just barely, before relaxing again. It was a sensory thing for her, feeling Catra’s ears sometimes. She likes how she can gently press them down and they just flit back up. It’s always funny, and Catra only lets her do it when she’s feeling particularly lazy. “You want to take a shower first since I have my own bathroom now, too?”

Catra grimaces a bit at first, but then nods when hearing that there’s a bathroom in their room. “Like, me first, or together like usual?”

“Oh, sure, we can do it together”, she says with a shrug, “It probably won’t be smaller than the barracks locker room stalls.” Adora shifts and starts getting up with Catra. They undress and head to the bathroom together, stopping at the shower. “The nozzles look a little different...”, Adora comments as she stands before them, Catra waiting outside of reach from the shower head. She turns one and yelps as she is splattered with hot water and turns the other one desperately. “I didn’t expect it to be that hot already”, she says after Catra laughs at her quietly. She turns to her and opens her arms. “Come on, it’s okay now. It’s a little stronger.” Catra sighs and gets into the shower, tail sticking out in an unsure way. She lets Adora start cleaning the fur that runs down between her shoulder blades to her tail while she does her front. Her arms are a little too short to reach all of it. The smell of Adora’s sweat fades away, but is never really gone. She likes it, since it’s something she can always identify her with and find her, something that's been ingrained in her mind since childhood. It changed when she turned twelve, but it still smells nice to her and Adora always smells like sweat and whatever deodorizing stick she used that day. It’s her comfort, like how Catra’s purring is Adora’s comfort. When Adora finishes with her back, Catra turns around and takes out her hair tie so she can return the favor by washing her hair. It probably feels as good to her as it does for her to get her fur cleaned by Adora, at least she hopes. She stands closer and makes a mohawk out of her hair, snorting a little at how stupid it looks.

After they finish up in the shower, Catra is first out and shakes her legs dry. Adora stays back, stretching in the steam and feeling great. She walks a little funny when she comes out, “Think I might’ve popped my thigh or something...”

Catra rubs her neck, but looks proud. “Sorry”, she says. “Want me to check it for a hard spot?”

Before she can answer, Catra is already in front of her, making her sit down on the bed. “Catra, it’s probably fine, my leg is probably just cramped up from our shower.” Catra’s hands are squeezing her shins and pressing for tight muscles. "You took care of it already...", she says, biting her lip.

“That doesn’t work if you’re standing while— Just hush, I’m trying to concentrate”, Catra huffs and presses her thumb above one of Adora’s kneepits. She finds a tense spot and hears a whimper. “That’s it? Better not be another one of those growing pains... I’ve had about enough of you getting taller than me...” She gently rubs the spot till it feels like the rest of her skin. “Better?”

Adora nods, smiling softly. “Thank you”, she says and starts drying her hair with the towel. The two get dry and get dressed before meeting with the others. She convinced Shadow Weaver to let her team join her on the mission for Thaymor and Catra is allowed to drive one of the tanks. On their journey, she makes a stop when she feels.. She isn't sure what it is. Some kind of energy pulls her, beckons her to explore the Whispering Woods. “What's wrong? Gotta pee?”, Adora asks, raising an eyebrow as she watches her ears twitching.

“No... Actually, I do now. I was thinking maybe we can rest here for an hour? Do a little exploring?”, Catra responds, going over to Adora and throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Aren't you curious why they call it the Whispering Woods? Maybe we can find out what it's whispering about. Maybe we will stumble across something valuable and have something extra to bring back from our successful mission.” She pouts, pretending to be sad at the idea of not being able to explore.

Adora chews on her cheek, knowing they aren't supposed to diverge from the mission. However, looking at Catra's pretend sad eyes always gets her. “Alright, but only an hour. I mean it”, she says with an amused smirk.

“Yes!! Alright, let's go!!”, Catra beams and practically pulls Adora up with her as she climbs the ladder to get out of the entry port in the top of the tank. When Adora pokes her head out, she grabs the collar of her jacket and heaves her out of the tank. When they jump off, Catra starts heading towards where she can feel the pull. She brushes her hangs from her face.

“You know, if you let me pull back your hair, you wouldn't have to keep doing that”, Adora chides, raising an eyebrow as she smirks.

Catra scoffs, “Stop trying to force your hair style on everyone.”

Adora rolls her eyes, “I'm just trying to help. You'd probably look even cuter with it pulled back.”

“Oh, so you think I'm cute now”, Catra teases. She ignores the butterflies she feels in her stomach. Adora was probably just being dumb, as usual. No need to think twice about it, and yet here she is...

“Uh, yeah, I've always thought you were cute”, Adora says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Catra feels like she forgot how to breathe for a moment._ Don't say stuff like that, it's weird... Why do you always have to make me feel like this? Shut up, Adora. Say something nice back, you can do it._ “Uh, okay. I guess your dumb little hair poof isn't all that dumb...”

Adora grins at her, “Really?? Wait, you thought it was dumb? You said I looked good.“

“Uhh, well... I've gotten used to it. It's cute sometimes, just depends on the day, but yeah... It's kinda dumb”, Catra says, deflecting her feelings at seeing Adora grin like that over a compliment.

Adora blinks, “You think it's cute?”

Catra shrugs, heading over to the bushes. “Yeah. I mean, why not? The undercut is what sells it, though.” Adora starts to follow her and Catra puts her hand up. “Wait here, I gotta pee, remember?”

“Oh, right, I'll stand watch”, Adora says, immediately turning around. She has her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready in case anything comes out.

When Catra finishes up, she pulls out a little cleansing alcohol packet from her pocket and wipes her hands. “Alright, lets go... That way”, she declares as she points out. Together, they head deeper into the forest. Adora is just following Catra at this point, who seems to be searching for something. She doesn't ask about it, enjoying it sometimes when she isn't in control of the situation. However, she remains fully alert. “...Do you feel anything, Adora? Like, any energy?”

“... No, why? Do you feel something?”, Adora replies, looking around as she tries, but fails to feel anything around her. “You looking for it?”

“Yeah, sorry.. I would've told you, but I wasn't even sure about it till now. I think it's just over those bushes”, she says as she grabs Adora's hand.

Adora shrugs, “That's fine, I trust you... You wouldn't bring me out here unless it wasn't important.” They crouch through the bushes and stop on the other side. “It looks like a mask...”

Catra grabs the object, holding it up curiously. “Huh. It's just some old mask? I guess this is cool. I'm gonna try it on.” She pushes the mask on, letting it push her bangs back. “Well?”

“It looks like it's meant for you. How do you feel?”, she says as she pulls out the sword so Catra can see herself in the blade.

Catra leans over and looks at her reflection, “You know what, you're right. I look pretty damn good. I don't feel any different, though. I guess we should go back now.” It isn't until the battle of Thaymor does she begin to feel different. They didn't expect to be met by a princess, who defends Thaymor.

“Catra, can you take her? I'll take control of the tank”, Adora asks as she runs up to her seat.

“Probably, I want to look cool when I do it, though”, she says and starts climbing out the tank. She stands over the hood and dodges an arrow. “Hey, Princess!!”, she calls out. “You're fighting me now.” She slides the mask over her eyes and feels like she looks cool for a moment. The next moment, she feels magic run and course through her full being. Her body changes, shifting into something more cat like, her fur covering her whole body now. Where Catra kneels, a large cat takes her place and roars.

“Is that—", the archer yells, lowering his bow. "Glimmer!!!"

The princess looks at the archer and back at the beast. “It's the Magicat princess!!!”

As quickly as the transformation came, it went away just as well and Catra falls off the tank unconscious. “Catra!!”, Adora yells from inside the tank and climbs out of it. As soon as her head pokes out, she sees an arrow shoot towards her and has to duck. “Shit”, she mutters.

“Bow, shoot a net arrow at the magicat so we can capture her!!!”, the princess yells and Adora hears an affirmative.

Adora crawls out of the tank in time to see a net sprout around Catra. “Catra!!”, she yells and jumps down. She tries to free her, using her sword.

“Horde Soldier has the Sword of Protection!!!”, the one called Bow shouts.

“We’ll worry about it later, just get the prisoner, I can take her!!”, the princess yells back. The Horde Soldier looks up just in time to see sparkles appear before her and a fist collide with her face. The archer is by her side and grabs the net, and grabs onto the princesses’s shoulder.

Adora falls back with an oof and scrambles to her feet. “No!!!”, she yells after gathering that the princess must've teleported there and is about to teleport away. She runs and lunges forward, but is too late.

Adora returns to the Horde with the rest of her team, victorious. She reports to Shadow Weaver at once, for guidance and to report her findings. The others celebrate their victory while Adora is away. “Force Captain Adora reporting, ma’am.” She holds her hands together nervously, her nails start picking at her knuckles on her right hand. It's something she does without thinking when she gets nervous, extremely nervous. Now she's about to tell her superior and basically her mother that she lost a cadet during the battle. Whether or not Shadow Weaver liked the cadet in question, it's still a problem. It's still something that she will probably be heavily punished for.

“Ah yes, my dear Adora. I see you are victorious, as I expected”, the sorceress begins with the sweet voice she usually uses when greeting and speaking to Adora as she floats amongst the shadows before her. She cups her cheek, “Why so glum? Didn't get to defeat that princess? You'll have another chance...”

Adora's chest feels tight, but she learned not to let her emotions consume her. At least, not in front of Shadow Weaver. “I lost Catra... She was captured by them”, she says quietly, looking down and away.

Shadow Weaver’s eyes narrow for a moment, before she strokes Adora's hair, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Oh Adora... I don't blame you”, she murmurs soothingly with feigned sadness. “She was important to you, but you were powerless against the princess. You should have been more responsible, even though Catra is the one who got herself captured. I'll assign you a new partner at once. You will train more, as well, to make up for your failure with her.”

“Shadow Weaver... Catra was a good soldier, she just... She probably would've kicked their asses if she hadn't found that mask. I don't think I'm ready—“

Shadow Weaver has already moved away and gone to her controls. She presses a call button, one of many shaped like Force Captain badges. “Nonsense, Adora, let me make up for your...loss.” She sounds almost disgusted or annoyed when she finishes her sentence. “Wait outside for your new partner.” She ushers Adora our of her chambers, “She will be here shortly.”

Adora lets herself be shoo'd out of Shadow Weaver’s chambers and the door closes behind her. She frowns, looking down at the ground as she hugs herself. Not only has she lost Catra, but now Shadow Weaver seemed so...cold to her. The woman who raised her like her own since she was a baby. She shakes as she tries to hold back her tears, waiting as she was ordered.

About ten minutes pass and she hears footsteps. She looks up to see a taller woman, wearing a Force Captain badge. “Um, hi, you must be Adora?”, she asks, seeming unsure. “Shadow Weaver assigned me to be your partner. My name is Scorpia.” She extends a pincer out, giving her a small smile.

“Oh. Right. I'm Adora, nice to meet you Scorpia”, she responds, her voice shaky. She wants to reach out and accept it, to offer hers as well, but she can't.

“Hey... you okay?”, she says softly to her, standing by Adora and getting her to start walking. “You sound upset. Here, I think you need this.” She picks her up and hugs her tight, “I'm a hugger. Always feel free to ask if you need one, I give the best hugs.” Adora is startled as she is lifted and hugged, but soon finds herself feeling calmed. Even the sadness dulls somewhat. She slowly hugs her back and lets it out, letting herself cry. Scorpia frowns and rubs her back. “It's okay, go ahead and let it out. I'll take you back to your room, okay? Don't worry, I know where it is, it was the only one left that was vacant. I got you, we can talk all about it once you're all calmed down."

“Th-Thank you”, Adora sobs, now crying into Scorpia’s shoulder like she hasn't cried in years. She doesn't try to speak again, knowing she's too wound up to speak cohesively. She lets herself be taken to her room to be consoled by her new partner.


	2. the princess diaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra scoffs and rolls her eyes. “As if I’m going to tell you anything. You already know what we were doing, you don’t need our names. Where is Ad— Where is the blonde one that seems a little dumb, huh? Where are you keeping—" She looks around and blinks. She was not in a jail cell, there were no bars, there was even furniture. "Where am I?“
> 
> Glimmer paces before her, “You’re in prison, genius! Where else do you think you’d be when you attacked a town under the protection and jurisdiction of Bright Moon?!”
> 
> “This is a prison?”, the magicat asks after a loud laugh. “You gotta be shittin’ me, woman. There’s— It’s too nice here, it looks like a regular old room.” 
> 
> Glimmer stomps towards Catra, but Bow grabs her arms and pulls her back. “Glimmer, no! It’s just a room, and we don’t really take prisoners. It’s one of the spare rooms—“
> 
> “WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER THAT?!”, Glimmer shrieks, shoving him off her and throwing her hands up. “She doesn’t need to know anything until she tells us what she knows!!”Catra’s quiet snickering brings her attention back to her. "What?"
> 
> Catra looks up from where she sits at Glimmer, “You aren’t good at this, are ya, Sparkles?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmm this one is longer, but it didn't take as long to write. might be a few days before next update, kinda sorry it's an immediate update

Searing pain is all Catra can remember as she comes to, and now she feels what’s left over. Her body is sore everywhere, the transformation having introduced a hell of a lot of magic through her veins. She can still feel it, and she doesn’t understand it one bit. She groans as she opens her eyes, the room dim. She doesn’t recognize her surroundings and her heart races. “Adora?? Adora, where are you?! Can you hear me? Adora!!”, she calls out, her voice squeaking as she feels more terrified. _Did Shadow Weaver finally make good on her promise to get rid of me? Did she send me to Beast Island? Have I been transferred? _Tears sting her eyes as she thinks these things, but these thoughts aren’t as bad as what they would mean: never getting to see Adora again._ Would Adora even know? _  
  
“Glimmer!! She’s awake!!”, a hushed whisper from somewhere in the dim room. Soft snoring stops abruptly and and she sits up. The one called Glimmer stands, brushing herself off as the one called Bow starts stretching. Bow finishes up and walks over to their prisoner, who is bound by her hands and legs. “So, Horde soldier... Tell us your name.”  
  
Catra scoffs and rolls her eyes. “As if I’m going to tell you anything. You already know what we were doing, you don’t need our names. Where is Ad— Where is the blonde one that seems a little dumb, huh? Where are you keeping—" She looks around and blinks. She was not in a jail cell, there were no bars, there was even furniture. "Where am I?“  
  
Glimmer paces before her, “You’re in prison, genius! Where else do you think you’d be when you attacked a town under the protection and jurisdiction of Bright Moon?!”  
  
“This is a prison?”, the magicat asks after a loud laugh. “You gotta be shittin’ me, woman. There’s— It’s too nice here, it looks like a regular old room.”  
  
Glimmer stomps towards Catra, but Bow grabs her arms and pulls her back. “Glimmer, no! It’s just a room, and we don’t really take prisoners. It’s one of the spare rooms—“  
  
“WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER THAT?!”, Glimmer shrieks, shoving him off her and throwing her hands up. “_She_ doesn’t need to know anything until she tells us what she knows!!”Catra’s quiet snickering brings her attention back to her. "What?"  
  
Catra looks up from where she sits at Glimmer, “You aren’t good at this, are ya, Sparkles?”  
  
Glimmer’s eyes narrow and she crosses her arms. “It’s Glimmer, and you’re captured, aren’t you? So I’d say we are pretty good at this.”  
  
“Mmm, good point... but. But but but! Was I conscious?”, Catra retorts with a knowing smirk. “If I hadn’t passed out because of this mask, then I probably would’ve kicked your asses.”  
  
Bow steps between them before Glimmer can take her up on that claim. “Alright, alright. How about this. You know our names, so how about you introduce yourself so we can talk?” Behind him, Glimmer disappears in a small cloud of sparkles and leaves the two alone. “I’m Bow.”  
  
Catra’s tail slowly swishes behind her as she grows defensive. Her ears flatten as she considers it, eyeing his hand as he extends it to her. “....Catra”, she says with a huff. She slowly accepts the hand and lets go after he shakes it. “Now what?”  
  
“Well... Now it gets difficult. Since you’re a princess allied with the Horde—“  
  
“What? You think _I’m_ a princess?”, Catra squeaks as she tries not to laugh immediately, ultimately failing. She holds her stomach and rolls to her side. “You think I’m a princess, what, did maybe you two get brain damaged from the battle when you were defending the place??”  
  
Bow blinks, his brow furrowing. “You.. You don’t know? Catra, you’re the last of your kind. Your whole race was annihilated by the Horde. We have that information and that the body of the princess wasn’t found among them... I’m sorry, that’s probably a lot—“  
  
Catra raises an eyebrow, not understanding his words or tone. It sounds sad and compassionate. It reminds her of Adora, and now she’s sad. “I don’t believe you... I just want to know where Adora is, the blonde one. Besides, I don’t think you have any proof, so. Just bring her to me, and we’ll see what you learn.”  
  
“Uh, you’re the only one, Catra. We recognized you, captured you to free you from the Horde and teleported away. We don’t have anyone else. Your... Adora tried to free you, but Glimmer punched her and we teleported. I’m...sorry?”, Bow offers, sraising his hands gently. “I’m telling the truth, though. I can get documents for you and tablets! I’ll be back, just stay put!”  
  
Bow backs out slowly before just running. “Yeah, like I have a choice!!”, she calls after him. Catra sighs and hugs her knees to her chest. _Adora isn’t here, good... but she’s probably worried sick. Oh. Shit. She’ll probably try to break in here after she regroups. She could probably defeat Bright Moon honest... Wait, she’d have to get through the woods first and they are difficult... She’d have to come alone._ _If Shadow Weaver would even let her..._  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s a while before Bow comes back, and he brings the Queen with him, along with Glimmer. He stands back, “Uh, your majesty. This is Catra. Our prisoner...”  
  
Catra has fallen asleep from waiting, but not full on slumber, so her ears twitch when she hears the footsteps. She opens her eyes lazily and lays back, hands behind her head. "I didn’t request an audience, Bow. Wow.“ The tallest woman must be the Queen, she deduces, since he doesn’t refer to Glimmer like that. The woman inspects Catra with her gloves hands, walking around her, lifting her chin to look at her ears. She feels like she’s being medically examined. ”Okay, okay, that’s enough...“, she mutters, scooting away when one of her ears is pulled on.  
  
“Oh my... You were right”, the Queen speaks, respectfully backing off. “Bow, I hereby agree with your proposition to allow Princess Catra to view sensitive documents regarding her race and her kingdom.” She turns to Glimmer and brings her away to speak privately. Well, as privately as you can in a room with someone that can hear everything. “I’m so proud of you, Glimmer. You were brave and even though we lost Thaymor, had you not been there, we wouldn’t have been able to free—“  
  
Catra snorts, “Wait, excuse me? You did not free me, and I’m not even free. If you let me go, I’ll go right back to the Horde.”  
  
The Queen stops and turns towards Catra. She lets out a sigh and walks over to her. “Princess Cat—”  
  
“Don’t call me that, I’m not one of you monsters!!”, Catra spits, an angry yowl threatening to escape her. _That’s weird, I thought I had controlled that a while ago..._ “Don’t touch me.”  
  
The Queen frowns, her expression soft. “Commander Glimmer, if you would please gather the files and bring them to us.” With an annoyed groan, Glimmer teleports away and returns about five minutes later. She walks over to Catra and slowly sits the stack of papers before her. They have a page with a half circle on top that says ‘Half-Moon’ under it. “Bow, stay here and assist her with anything she needs. Glimmer, good work.” She turns and leaves them to it.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
“Adora, what do you usually do to calm down, hm?”, Scorpia asks as she sets Adora on her bed. “Do you hum? Write? Draw? Anything?” She sits beside her and rubs her back, unsure what else she could really do. “Uh, I could distract you? I could.. Just do anything you need, we’re partners now.” At hearing that, Adora seems to cry even more. “Adora? What’s wrong? Come on, you can tell me... Is.. Is it me?”  
  
Adora shakes her head slowly, "No, no... I’m just scared. Scorpia..." She lets out a slow breath, trying to calm herself. She places her hands on her knees and looks up to Scorpia. "I just— I lost my best friend when I was out there. I— She’s— They took her. The princesses took her and I couldn’t save her!! And Shadow Weaver doesn’t even care, she's— She seems pretty damn happy about it, too. I don't know what to do, Scorpia!!" She turns to her and reaches out, only to be met with Scorpia's large pincers pulling her into a big hug. "I have to get her back, but I can't take on a whole kingdom!!"  
  
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, we’ll figure this out”, Scorpia coos, frowning. She didn’t expect to be consoling her new partner immediately. Shadow Weaver’s precious Adora always sounded so strong willed and determined. Now she wonders if it’s just an exaggeration. Not in a bad way, but... More in a ‘what goes on between Shadow Weaver and some of her cadets’ kind of way. “We can get her back. I don’t know how, but hey, you took Thaymor from Brightmoon! I’m sure you can come up with a plan, and I’m sure your friend is okay.” She instinctively rocks Adora in her arms, like the movement of an ocean. “You’re okay, Adora... You don’t have to do it alone.”  
  
“I kind of do, though... That’s what I’m supposed to do”, she says, calming down some. “It’s what I’ve been raised to do.” Adora lets herself relax against Scorpia, the only other kindest person she’s met since she met Catra when she was little. Well, and Kyle. That’s just Kyle, though. “What about you? Were you raised to be nice like this?”  
  
Scorpia blinks and she blushes softly. “Oh, what, me? No. Okay, I was taken in by the Horde when I was little. The Horde came and helped my people, who in turn helped them by giving our runestone to the Horde. I kind of try to live like my parents did, trusting and friendly, always ready to give a helping hand. I mean, just because I have a hard exo-skeleton doesn’t mean I’m mean.” She sees Adora smile and finds herself smiling, too. “You feeling better now?”  
  
Adora nods, leaning against Scorpia’s shoulder. “Yeah. Thank you... I feel like I can tackle this now. I’m going to have to do it alone, though, okay? You can’t let anyone know. I’ll be quick, though, I promise.” She notices worry starting to etch into Scorpia’s face and she places a hand on her arm. “It’ll be okay.”  
  
“Well... Alright. I believe in you, Adora. Wait, I shouldn’t be worrying at all! You single handedly took Thaymor for the Horde! You’re right. Uh, can you at least wait to do it? You should probably sleep before you go out there”, Scorpia says and tilts her head when Adora looks nervous again. “What is it, what’s wrong?”  
  
“We’ve been sharing a bed since we were kids. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep by myself tonight, let alone at all...”, she says with a sigh. “I guess I’ll just work out.” Adora starts to get up, but Scorpia gently takes her wrist.  
  
Scorpia gives her a sheepish smile, “Or I could stay till you fall asleep? Would that be okay with you, because I don’t mind at all. What do you say?”  
  
Adora blinks, surprised by just how friendly Scorpia is. “I, uh... Really? Yeah... Yeah. That would be really nice, Scorpia. I don’t want you to lose sleep, though.”  
  
At that, Scorpia waves her pincers, “Oh no, don’t you worry about that. You’re having a hard time and that’s okay. You can rely on me for anything, partner.”  
  
“...Friend”, Adora responds with a smile. “I’ll just take a shower and come back out, okay? It’s pretty hot in that tank.” She pulls herself from Scorpia’s side and heads into the bathroom. In the meantime, Scorpia looks around the room curiously. Sure it was brand new, but everyone does something to personalize it. It was perfectly fine. She doesn’t see any decorations or anything as she kind of inspects the room. She goes to the head of the bed and fluffs the pillows, eyes catching the carvings in the headboard. She finds it cute and assumes the other drawing that doesn’t look like Adora must be her friend.  
  
“Kitty”, she says softly when she notices the ears.  
  
Adora comes out in a tank top and shorts, “Yeah, that’s Catra. She’s my best friend.”  
  
Scorpia looks back to Adora smiles, “Yeah? She can probably even meet you in the woods if she has claws, too. Don’t worry too much about her, she’ll do fine.”  
  
“Yeah... I hope so”, she murmurs as she gets into the bed. “I don’t mind if you want to sleep here, too. That way you don’t miss out on any sleep. I’ll probably go first thing in the morning.”  
  
“Okay, friend. Just be careful”, she says as she sits beside her. Scorpia rests her back against the headboard and holds her arm out for Adora to take if she finds she needs it. After a while, she does and it makes Scorpia smile. It was nice that someone wasn’t too scared of her or worried about getting hurt from her pincers. She can be gentle. She leans her head against Adora’s and feels her get closer. Her face softens, and she feels... She doesn’t know what she feels. She’s never shared a bed with another person before. It was also nice. Adora’s asleep now and she decides to stay, letting herself fall asleep, too. Sure enough, Adora is gone in the morning.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
Morning comes to Brightmoon and Catra is released, but she doesn’t leave. She sits, staring at papers scattered before her. They have her name on them, her birth name. Her whole life has been a lie since she was taken by the Horde. She frowns at her hands. “My name is C’yra. I’m princess of the Magicats— The... Extinct magicats... Am I even a princess, then?”, she asks, scowling now. “The Horde took everything from me, then. Even my name.” She sighs and rubs her eyes.  
  
“If it makes you feel better, they take. They just take everything from everyone...”, Glimmer says, placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “I’m working on making the Princess Alliance again. We’re going to join the princesses together and take back what the Horde stole from us. Want to be our first princess?”  
  
Catra looks at Glimmer, letting out a shaky sigh. “If it’s the only way I can find out more about myself, then sure. I need to get Adora, though”, she says, shrugging a bit. “And Shadow Weaver said I’d never amount to anything. Well, I’m royalty. That’ll show her.” She snickers and stands. “I knew the Horde was evil, but I didn’t it was so bad. I thought we were all just orphans, that’s what they told us. So they’re abducting children.” She feels her stomach growl and she frowns. “Since I’m part of your little alliance now, can I get some food? What kind of ration bars do you have?”  
  
Bow raises an eyebrow and looks at Glimmer in question. She shrugs and shakes her head. “Ration bars?”, he asks, tilting his head. “What is that, food?”  
  
“Uh, yeah? I eat them all the time. Adora says the grey ones taste best, but we all know it’s the brown ones”, she says, as if it’s obvious. “Why are you acting like that’s something weird?” Catra’s tail swishes behind her, revealing her unsure feelings. “Guys?”  
  
Bow offers his hand out to her, which she takes. “Glimmer, breakfast?”, he asks.  
  
Glimmer yawns and nods. “Yeah, okay”, she says and puts her hand on his shoulder before teleporting the three of them to the dining hall. “I’d walk us there, but I’m lazy.” She watches Catra’s tail frizz up and as she looks around. “Hungry?”  
  
Catra’s eyes dilate widely as so many new smells hit her, all smelling so good. She goes around, inspecting all the food. She grabs a weird circle shaped tray and starts piling on food after food. She can’t remember when she’s felt so hungry before. She goes to a table and curiously picks at the food, sniffing it before tasting it. Her eyes light up as she tastes the food and starts eating it slowly, wanting to savor it. Bow and Glimmer sit with her and also eat, smiling. “Wow, I guess they don't have good food there, huh?”, Bow asks as he looks at her with soft concern. “They just give you the basic nutrients?” Catra answers by shaking and nodding her head.  
  
She easily polishes off her plate and wipes her mouth on her arm. “After this, I’m going to go out into the woods and see what else I can find about myself, okay?” Catra raises an eyebrow as Glimmer and Bow look at each other. “What?”  
  
“Can we come with you? We could help?”, Glimmer asks, smiling a bit. “We don’t mind, really.”  
  
Catra bounces her eyes around, looking at the ceiling like she’s considering it. “Hmm... I don’t know...”, she says playfully as she looks back at them. “I guess.”  
  
Bow stands up and pumps his fist into the air, “Yes!!! Best friend trio!!!”, he yells happily. He high fives Glimmer, who holds her hand up for Catra. She eyes it for a moment and decides not to leave her hanging.  
  
“I do have something to ask of you guys, though.....”, Catra starts, looking down at her empty plate. “I want to get Adora from the Horde, she’s a good person and I know she’d be great here. She’s a Force Captain, so she could be an asset if you need a reason other than she’s... She’s—“  
  
“Your girlfriend?”, Bow and Glimmer say together.  
  
Catra blinks, her brow furrowing next. “Yeah..? She’s a girl and she’s my friend?” Glimmer and Bow look to each other, wordlessly arguing about who will tell her. “What? What is it?”, Catra asks, sounding a little annoyed. “I barely know either of you, I don’t know what’s happening.”  
  
Bow sighs and leans his chin in his hand. “Okay. She’s important to you. She’s all you think about.” Catra nods and he continues, “You.. kiss her?” Catra’s contorts to confusion now and Bow bites his lip. “Uh, you put your lips together. That’s a kiss.” Catra nods then, understanding. “That means you love her, and you two are in a special relationship together.”  
  
“..Yeah? Sounds nice. What's a special relationship?” Catra leans back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head. 

Glimmer picks it up, "A special relationship. You and Adora are best friends?" Catra nods, but she bites her lip and starts to blush. Glimmer notices and decides to press. "Buuut?"

Catra frowns and rolls her eyes, "I don't know. It's weird. We kiss naked a lot and touch each other. Shut up."

Bow whines sympathetically, nudging Glimmer. "You're so alike. It's uncanny", he snickers. 

"Don't compare me to a princess", Catra huffs, nearly snarling at him as she glares. "Look, you two think I'm a princess. Is it because I'm a magicat? What makes you so sure?"

There is silence again among them before Bow coughs, "We...We aren't sure, alright? It really is that you're the only magicat we have ever seen and that we know they were wiped out. This is speculation, but it's a quite sure speculation."

Catra sighs, shaking her head. "Of course. You're going to use me for your Princess Alliance?"

"The way I see it, it's an even trade. You don't have to go back to the Horde, you get to learn about who you are and can be your own person if you help me get the alliance back together", Glimmer says, narrowing her eyes. "Or... You can just continue being our prisoner."

"Glimmer!", Bow says, elbowing her. "What she's trying to say is that we need each other. We'll help you get your friend Adora, too."

Catra narrows her eyes at Glimmer, unsure what to think of her. She looks to Bow and softens at his genuine expression and slowly nods. "Alright.. Why were you asking about her earlier, though?"

Bow shrugs, "Just curious, really.... You seem to be... You care about her a lot."

"Like, in love, a lot", Glimmer chimes in. "Do you guys..- Wait, you have sex, you said?"

Catra blinks at the princess, looking bored. "What. Is. Sex", she says, getting tired of all these questions about Adora.   
  
Glimmer throws her hands up, “I'm not going to explain that to you!!! That's research you can do in the library."  
  
“Are we ready to go yet?” Bow and Glimmer nod and get up. Catra follows them as they take their plates and put them away. She looks down at her belt buckle, still a Horde buckle. “Got anything I can replace this with?”  
  
Glimmer nods, “Bow, I’ll take her to my room. Wanna get that tablet of yours and maybe we can find some tech while we’re out there?”  
  
“Yeah, sure”, Bow says before they part ways.  
  
Glimmer decides to lead Catra to her room this time instead of just teleporting there. “We’ll get a room for you, we have two spare—“  
  
“You’re gonna have me live in the prison?”, Catra asks with a teasing smirk.  
  
Glimmer glares at her, “Not funny. But yes. We’ll just make the other one the prison.” She goes through her dresser and pulls out a crescent moon. “How about this?”  
  
Catra goes over to her and takes it. She switches out the buckles and looks down at herself. “Mmm... I guess it’ll work. You know... Sometime I want to get Halfmoon going again, since it’s my birthright. I’ll change it to that if I get to. Uh, thanks by the way...” Her cheeks flush somewhat as she rubs her neck.  
  
“Hey, don’t worry about it”, Glimmer says and offers her fist. Catra raises an eyebrow at it before meeting hers to it. “Like that? It’s a fist bump. We can make it our thing?”  
  
Catra shrugs, “Sure, I like it.” They go find Bow and he fires up his tech tracker. “So.... Tech?”  
  
Bow nods, “First One’s tech. The people who came before us. All of us, even Queen Angella, I think. She’s immortal but, I mean... She has to be born at some point, right? She didn’t just always exist.”  
  
“True”, Glimmer says with a nod. “We’re trying to keep the Horde from getting it, so we bring it in.”  
  
Catra’s eyebrows raise and she looks around. “Cool. Cool. Side mission. I guess that’s my first mission for Brightmoon, huh?”, she says, bopping her head a bit. “So we’re doing it on the way to the Horde?” When she gets a nod, she starts walking. “Adora is probably on her way, so we might not even have to go all the way out there. If we don’t run into her, though.. We can sneak in.”  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
Adora groans as she stops at a tree, “I’ve seen this tree three times!!! I’m just going in circles, how?? I’m going straight forward!!” _She huffs and sits down, deciding to take a break. Stupid princesses. Stupid mask. If it weren’t for either of those, I wouldn’t be out here hoping to find Catra before I storm that..castle or fortress. This is all because I wasn’t being responsible. I shouldn’t have let her go out there, I should have just kept letting Catra blow stuff up. _When she finishes mentally berating herself, she gets up and gets moving again. “Catraaaa!!!!!”, she yells out into nothing. Her voice bounces off the trees, echoing back at her. She holds onto her sword in case she runs into a princess.  
  
  
“...Adora?”, a faint voice calls back.  
  
“Catra!!!!”, Adora yells again and looks around, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from. “Where are you??” She starts heading towards where she thinks she heard it. Silence falls again and she slows down. “Catra??” No answer. Adora groans and just stops. However, she feels like she’s being watched. She hears wooshing in the trees and gets into a defensive stance.  
  
“Catra, slow down!! We can’t keep up!!!”, Bow’s squeaky voice echoes.  
  
This makes Adora ease somewhat, knowing Catra might be out here for possible now. She turns around in time to be tackled to the ground as something pounces on her. “Adora!!!”, Catra exclaims and hugs her tight as they roll.  
  
“Ca— Ooof!!! Catra”, Adora grunts, but returns the hug. “You escaped and we found each other!!”  
  
Catra sits up, her traditional position of half straddling the soldier and frowns. “Almost. I was released. I, uh, found out some stuff about myself...”, she says softly. When Adora sits up, Catra cups her face, squishing her cheeks. “There’s so much I have to tell you.” She notices Adora’s eyes watering a bit and she sighs dramatically, hugging her face to her chest. “Oh— Were you really worried? You didn’t think I’d come back?”  
  
Adora pouts, but leans into the touch and sniffles. She holds onto Catra’s hip and wipes her eyes. “No. I thought I might be too late, princesses are monsters. Ruthless monsters.” She feels Catra stiffen a bit and looks up an her from her chest. “What?”  
  
“I’m...actually friends, I guess, with a princess now”, she admits begrudgingly. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything when we get to Brightmoon.” She gets up and starts pulling Adora along with her.  
  
Adora digs her heels into the ground, “Wait, what? Brightmoon? I’m not going there— Wait, are you pulling something? We’re gonna take it over from the inside, huh? Then we’ll both be Force Captains!”  
  
Catra stops at feeling the resistance and frowns, turning back to Adora. “No, I’m being serious. I never wanted to be a Force Captain, that was all you. Come on.” She tugs gently again, but Adora doesn’t budge. She scowls now, letting go. “Come with me, Adora.”  
  
“Why? So I can betray the Horde? I don’t want to go, Catra. My whole life is there”, she says, looking behind her as if she could see the Fright Zone. “Why can’t you just come back with me? We can talk about it there.”  
  
“Because, I don’t... I don’t want to go back, Adora. All I do is get hurt there, trying to prove myself to someone who doesn’t care to even think of me. I rely on you to keep people from hurting me, but you can’t even keep the worst person from hurting me. I’m not going back to Shadow Weaver, she doesn’t even want me there”, Catra starts pacing, gesturing towards the space behind Adora. “You’ve seen her hurt me and you still want to go back there?”  
  
Adora looks to Catra with sorrow in her eyes, “That’s just... That’s how it is in the Fright Zone. It won’t be any different anywhere else. What happened to calling the shots and taking over?“  
  
Catra looks away and takes a harsh breath, “You aren’t listening to me, you never listen. I don’t want that anymore, Adora. I can call my own shots now for the most part! I just wanted to be by you while that happened. But you don’t want to be with me?”  
  
“Catra, I—", she starts, stepping back. "You’re my best friend, of course I want to be with you... but—" Adora grunts as Catra lunges for her. She swipes at her and tries to knock her out. "What was that?!", she blurts out after dodging the lunge and swipe.  
  
Catra pants heavily and lunges again, tackling her to the ground. “Come with me!!! I’m safe here, you’ll be safe here!!!”, she yells at her and grabs the collar of her jacket.

"I'm safe where I am, Catra, what are you talking about??", Adora responds with concern, grabbing Catra's wrists gently. "What have they done to you?"

Catra blinks, anger bubbling in her at how insensitive her best friend is being. She clearly knows how she was treated by Shadow Weaver. She couldn't be that dumb. She yanks her hand from Adora's grip. Adora cries out as the claws scratch across her face, and Catra is surprised by the collision herself. She didn't expect to do it so deeply. Catra's eyes soften in sadness when she sees that she made Adora bleed.

“Whoa!! Catra, don’t!!”, Bow says as he runs up behind her and pulls her off Adora. “That’s not how you want to do this, come on!!” Catra struggles against Bow as he drags her away, back to Glimmer so they can teleport back to Brightmoon.  
  
Adora holds her face, curled up on the ground as the claw marks on her jowl bleed. Her eyes sting with tears as she realizes her best friend just left her and purposely attacked her face. She pants heavily, eyes darting around like she’s expecting another attack before finally realizing it was over. It’s been a long time since she’s cried, not since she was really little, before she met Catra. Lately, she feels like that’s all she’s been doing. She feels so weak, to let herself cry so hard before and to start crying now. She picks herself up off the ground and starts walking back to the edge of the Whispering Woods where her skiff is. She could really use a hug right now. _I wish I hadn't done this alone..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah yeah im a little inconsistent with how I do the moons


	3. and every part of me is wanting you more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, Scorpia wakes up alone. Again. However, she knows Adora doesn’t have any plans yet, so she feels confident she is safe. She frowns, though. /Maybe she’s just a busy body and has to start her routine early. It couldn’t be anything to do with me.../
> 
> Sure enough, Adora is in the training room, beating a long punching bag till she’s satisfied. No gloves, no sword, just her fists. She huffs as she punches it really hard, causing it to break free of its rope and hit the wall. “Adora, that’s enough”, a voice from the shadows speak. Adora tenses and stands upright, turning to face Shadow Weaver as she materializes. “Tell me, my dear, why could I not find you yesterday?”, she questions. The eyes of her mask narrow as she waits for an answer.
> 
> Adora gulps, looking up to her mother figure. “I went— There— ” She sighs and takes a deep breath. “I went to try and rescue Catra.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still learning how to use this site past bookmarking and kudos and comments

“No!!! No, take me back!!!”, Catra snarls, struggling to break free of Bow’s grip as they teleport onto the grounds of Brightmoon. She can smell Adora’s blood on her claws, on Bow’s arm from her hand and she slowly stops. Her ears flatten and she lets go of Bow’s arms. Her hands shake and she looks down at them, her breath catching in her throat. “Adora...”  
  
Glimmer raises an eyebrow and notices the blood. “Shit”, she says quietly and goes to get a towel. She comes back and takes Catra’s hands, cleaning them off. “It’s okay, Catra, it’s okay... It was an accident? It was an accident”, she assures soothingly, judging by how mortified Catra seems. “She knows you wouldn’t hurt her on purpose.”  
  
Catra lets out a strangled sound from her throat as she tries to breath, “No— No, but I kind of wanted to... I hurt her sometimes when we were little when we would play and they were little scratches or bites.” She lets out a breath and closes her eyes tight. She hears Adora’s cry of pain, not the little ‘ows’ from when they were little ringing in her ears. She shakes her head, ears twitching.  
  
Bow lets her go and moves beside her, “Hey, hey... Catra, it’s okay. I’m sure it’s okay.” He rubs her arms, trying to comfort her. “Oh, I know! What did you guys do when you were little? Tell us about that.” He waves Glimmer off to get rid of the towels so Catra wouldn’t see any blood when next she opens her eyes and get it from her sense of smell.  
  
“I... Okay..”, she relents and clenches her fists to stop their shaking. “She used to chase after me... That was our thing, chasing after each other...” Catra breathes deeply and exhales. “I’m faster than her and then she got faster than me during our sparring. It was fun. Sometimes I’d accidentally scratch my face and she would try to make it better, so she would put some cream on my face. I wouldn’t let her sometimes, though, and bit her hands. I was teething. I was really fluffy, too, so my fur would tickle here when we would sleep. I’ve lost most of that now, though, it’s just down my stomach and down my back...” Her tail curls at the end in a friendly way, showing she’s calmed down.  
  
“Aw... That sounds really cute”, Bow says with a smile. He sees her open her eyes and sees she’s calmed down. “You okay?”  
  
Catra unclenches her hands and looks at them. They’re clean and still and she inhales. She can’t smell Adora’s blood on them anymore, can’t even smell Adora on her hands anymore. “Yeah... I think I’m okay now. Th— Thank you...”, she murmurs and gives him a small smile. Glimmer teleports back in and places a hand on Catra’s shoulder when she sees she’s feeling better. “Thank you, Sparkles— Glimmer...”  
  
Glimmer bites her lip, “You still okay pretending to be a princess? I didn’t get to you two in time, but I could hear some of it... You don’t have to—“  
  
“No, you know what? I’m going to do it. I think... I think this is the right thing to do”, Catra cuts her off. She smiles more confidently, giving a nod. “I’m sure. We can stop Shadow Weaver.”  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Scorpia paces in front of Adora’s room, waiting for her to return. She worries for her, not even sure how long she’s been gone. For all she knows, she could’ve gone after she fell asleep. She went back to her room to get ready for the day before having to do her usual duties. This includes being Force Captain to her and Adora’s crew, Rogelio, Kyle and Lonnie. She bites her bottom lip and leans against the wall beside the door. She’s the only person that knows about Adora’s little secret mission._ Adora is very capable, she’s probably already either rescued her friend and, or taken over Brightmoon. There’s probably no stopping her!_  
  
Adora shuffles into the hallway and Scorpia immediately leans up straight when she hears feet. She looks to the source and smiles, “Hey, partner, I was so worried!!” Scorpia goes to her and catches her arms to stop her gently. “I’m glad you’re back!!” She grins and hugs her tightly, squeezing Adora. When she doesn’t feel Adora move or hear her say anything, she frowns and lets go. “Are you okay?” Adora shakes her head, keeping it down. She doesn’t feel like she can look at Scorpia, who had so much faith in her. She’s failed, again. Her jaw is clenched and she’s biting her lip hard to keep herself from crying. To keep her emotions in check. Scorpia gently lifts Adora’s chin with the tip of her pincer and sees dried tears and blood on her face, as well as the claw marks on her jaw. “You’re hurt...”, she says softly, her heart dropping to her surprise. _Inside and out... I guess— No, I’ll just ask rather than speculating. _Scorpia gently turns her head to check out the scratches. She tries not to look too worried for Adora, but Adora looks pretty tired. _It’s night time, she probably is pretty tired.._ “Why don’t you come to my room tonight, huh?”, she says, not wanting Adora to have to see that little drawing on her bed so soon after possibly gravely loosing her best friend.  
  
“I would like that, yeah”, Adora whispers and tries to give her a smile. “Thank you. Um. Can you pick me up?” She immediately feels embarrassed for asking, her face flushing. “I mean— Nevermind, it’s okay, we can just walk there.” Scorpia almost immediately lifts her up, giving her a determined, yet soft look. Adora blinks, her breath catching in her throat before she actually does manage a smile. She gently touches her face, trying to look to her eyes and convey her gratitude. Scorpia nods and brings her head down gently with her pincer to her shoulder before she starts walking. She brings her to her room and sits her down on the bed gently. There isn’t much going on in Scorpia’s room, it was normal. She gets a hand towel and gently starts cleaning the wounds on Adora’s face. She closes her eyes tight, whimpering a bit from the stinging.  
  
Scorpia frowns softly, “Sorry, I should’ve warned you before I started...” She addresses her cheek with love and care, as she would her own team members. She doesn’t want to pry Adora, letting her talk when she was ready. Scorpia cleans the scratches and hums. “They look a little bad. I think they’re going to scar...” She puts some cream on the scratches and instinctively presses a kiss on her cheek where the scratches are, something she does for the younger ‘recruits’ as if it makes the pain better. She blinks twice and blushes, rubbing the back of her head. “O-Oh! Sorry, I was kind of on automatic there”, she stutters sheepishly.  
  
Adora blushes as well and smiles, “No, it helped, actually. Thank you for taking care of me...” She places a hand on the pincer Scorpia is scratching her head with and gives her a squeeze. She then looks down and sighs. “Catra is okay, but she wanted to stay in Brightmoon. She’s not coming back, but I’m not going to give up, so if we ever run into her... I’m going to try.”  
  
“You don’t have to thank me for that, I’m just caring”, Scorpia says, shrugging. She takes off Adora’s shoes and sets them aside. “You’re a pretty good friend, Adora. If it were the other way around and you left, wanting _her_ to come with _you_, I’m sure you wouldn’t give up on her then, either.” She then goes to her dresser and gets shell wax so she can buff her exo-skeleton. “Is there anything we should do about Catra leaving the Horde? Like, should we keep it from Shadow Weaver?”  
  
  
“Yes!”, Adora says, eyes lighting up a bit. “Yes. That’s good, I didn’t even think about if she’d ask where I was today. And you deserve to be appreciated, so thank you.“ Adora watches Scorpia sit beside the bed so she doesn’t get any wax on her sheets. ”Here, let me help.“ She moves so her legs are on either side of Scorpia’s arms. ”I can do your shoulders?“  
  
Scorpia looks back at Adora in surprise when she gets behind her. “Really, you wanna help me buff?”, she asks. When Adora nods, she smiles and gives her a soft brush and pulls out some water stored under her bed. “Okay, I need to clean them first before the buffing. I have to make sure they’re all clean before I put the wax on them. I’ll work on my tail.” She and Adora start cleaning her exo-skeleton with care. Adora’s never buffed anything before, but she has helped Catra file her nails before to keep them from hooking. Sometimes she would help Kyle help Rogelio when he was shedding out of his skin. They would half to break off parts of the dead skin for him to be able to get out of it. Being able to do something like this for Scorpia makes Adora happy. “It’s nice having someone to help”, Scorpia says, looking up from her tail. She smiles and grabs a hand held grinder from her tool box under her bed. “Here, give it a try”, she says as she offers the tool to Adora.  
  
Adora takes the grinder and bites her lip. “Uhh... It’s not going to hurt, is it?”, she asks, looking at the grinding wheel.  
  
“Not really, I just put wax on the wheel and it feels pretty good. It’s like a massage”, Scorpia assures her as she coats the wheel in wax. “Go ahead! You can start it slow if you want.”  
  
“Uh.. Okay”, Adora says and starts slowly buffing Scorpia’s exo-skeleton at her shoulders. She notices her straighten up some before relaxing and can see her smile. Getting to spend some down time is nice for Adora, otherwise she would be training. Not for any goal, but to just keep herself strong and maybe get stronger, too. “Are you going to be sharp afterwards?”  
  
Scorpia rolls her shoulders when Adora stops to put more wax on the wheel to start on the other shoulder. “The little spikes on my shoulders will be, and my tail’s point will be.” She leans her head against one of Adora’s knees to give her more room. “Don’t worry, though, it won’t hurt you. I’m pretty careful with that.” She closes her eyes and hums as she waits for Adora to finish so she can do her tail and arms.  
  
Adora nods, starting to see her reflection somewhat in Scorpia’s shoulder, so she stops. She smiles, “I think this one is done, too.” She hands the tool over to Scorpia and watches her finish her arms and tail. Then, she helps her put everything away and reaches out to touch one of her pincers. “Wow, that’s really smooth.” She smiles and stands on her toes to hug Scorpia so her arms reach around her neck.  
  
Scorpia blinks, but then smiles and picks Adora up in a hug. “You know you can just say ‘up’ if you want me to pick you up. You don’t have to do that.” She then playfully holds her under one of her arms and starts going about cleaning her room, which just involved some sweeping and getting an extra pillow. It was effortless, lifting, holding and picking up Adora. She gets an idea once she gets the pillow. “Hey, you know what would be fun?”  
  
“What?”, Adora asks after laughing, trying to squirm free.  
  
“Do you trust me?”, Scorpia asks as she moves to hold her in both arms, bridal style and looking a little mischievous.  
  
Adora’s eyes widen a bit, confused by the question. She starts nodding, then smiles, “Yeah, I trust you. I really trust you.” It's the truth, there's something about Scorpia that makes her feel safe. Something that makes her feel that even if they were enemies, she could come to her.  
  
“Okay, if you trust me... Then let me go on your next mission with you”, Scorpia says back, easily shifting Adora into one arm so she can gently poke her nose. “We’re partners, Adora, I don’t want her to hurt you again.”  
  
Adora’s face falters and she frowns, looking away. “I... Scorpia, I can handle it, really. It’s no trouble. I think this was an accident.”  
  
Scorpia frowns and looks to her pleadingly, “Please? I want to help. You shouldn’t do this alone.”  
  
Scorpia’s face looks so soft and so sad to Adora, how can she deny her and make her worry? She places a hand on Scorpia’s face, watches it turn into a pout. “Okay, okay. I won’t go on our next mission without you.” When Scorpia’s face lights up and she grins so big, Adora feels like she is making the right choice. She holds onto her shoulders as she starts to spin, holding Adora carefully.  
  
“Thank you!! Now let me show you something fun!!!”, Scorpia says ecstatically. She swings her around and tosses her into the air with a happy laugh. Adora screams, but not for fear, in excitement. She laughs as Scorpia catches her and does it again. They spend the next hour like this, laughing, tossing Adora into the air and twirling until they get tired and Scorpia flops back on her bed with Adora in her arms. She pants, but still grins as Adora pants too.  
  
Adora laughs a bit, still grinning as she pants. She is somewhat curled up on Scorpia’s stomach and moves so her head is on her chest. This way she can look up at her if she needs to. “You were right, that was fun”, she says, giving the woman’s biceps a squeeze. “You do that often?”  
  
Scorpia shakes her head, “No... I just noticed you were kind of adventurous, I think, so the idea popped up. I’m glad it worked.” She looks down at Adora, eyes full of affection and something more. Something familiar. “Want to stay here tonight?”  
  
“Yes... I mean, sure. That would be great. Can I sleep right here?”, she asks, not wanting to make Scorpia uncomfortable. It isn’t taking long for Scorpia to become a best friend. It’s almost natural to them, like they should’ve been best friends since they were little if it’s so easy to get along.  
  
“Oh, of course. I actually... I really like this right here....”, Scorpia murmurs softly, blushing as well. Something about Adora makes her heart beat faster than usual, and has her feeling warm. It’s a nice feeling, it makes her happy. Any time she sees Adora, it makes her a little happy. Adora’s body slowly goes limp and Scorpia chuckles quietly. _It was fast for her to go to sleep. She must’ve really been tired after all that...She’s so cute. _She gently drags her pincer up and down Adora’s back for a while, falling asleep shortly after.  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, Scorpia wakes up alone. Again. However, she knows Adora doesn’t have any plans yet, so she feels confident she is safe. She frowns, though. _Maybe she’s just a busy body and has to start her routine early. It couldn’t be anything to do with me..._  
  
Sure enough, Adora is in the training room, beating a long punching bag till she’s satisfied. No gloves, no sword, just her fists. She huffs as she punches it really hard, causing it to break free of its rope and hit the wall. “Adora, that’s enough”, a voice from the shadows speak. Adora tenses and stands upright, turning to face Shadow Weaver as she materializes. “Tell me, my dear, why could I not find you yesterday?”, she questions. The eyes of her mask narrow as she waits for an answer.  
  
Adora gulps, looking up to her mother figure. “I went— There— ” She sighs and takes a deep breath. “I went to try and rescue Catra.”  
  
“And who gave you the order? Who confirmed your okay on the mission?”, she asks, shadows slowly beginning to engulf the room. After a moments silence, she hovers closer. “Exactly. No one. And you still return empty handed.” Upon closer inspection, she reaches out to Adora, who winces at first. She grabs her jaw and turns her face, scratches facing her. “You return empty handed, yet you have the marks of that beast on you. Perhaps you killed her?” Shadow Weaver’s tone lightens with her question, hope shining just barely. “No, of course not, you’re nothing. That flea ridden mongrel must’ve died trying to escape and scratched you in her blind thrashing. Had I actually ordered the mission to rescue your....Catra, perhaps she’d be here with us right now.”  
  
Adora shudders at Shadow Weaver’s harsh, cold attention. Her lip quivers as she starts to feel scared. “N-No... I was too late. They, uh... They poisoned her and by the time I freed her and was on the way back, she was sick. She thought I was one of the princesses and that’s what happened”, she lies, covering her mouth. To be honest, what actually happened still hurts. She thinks what Catra could’ve meant by ‘you’ll be safe, too’. Her eyes sting and she closes her eyes tight.  
  
Shadow Weaver frowns behind her mask and her eyes soften. She smooths some of Adora’s hair behind her ear. “There there... I’m sure it’s all for the best...”, she murmurs and strokes her cheek. “You’ll be fine. I’m here to give you and Force Captain Scorpia a mission. Apparently, there is a new Princess Alliance. It appears the princess of Brightmoon has found another princess and now they are planning to recruit the Salineas princess. We need to take Salineas for The Horde and who better to do it than my protege? Two hours.”  
  
Adora blinks in surprise, looking up at Shadow Weaver in surprise. “Really? Even though I went out on my own and failed?”  
  
“Of course, now that you’re no longer distracted, I’m sure you’ll succeed”, she says smugly before slowly backing off and slinking into the shadows.  
  
  
Adora immediately runs out of the training room and heads to Scorpia’s room. She knocks on the door, then pants as she waits. She hadn’t even calmed down from being terrified before running. The door opens and Scorpia immediately looks worried. Adora puts her hands up, “No no! Everything is okay, we have a mission!”  
  
Scorpia is relieved, but then she is worried again. “You look scared, are _you_ okay?” She steps aside and ushers Adora inside, closing the door behind them by the press of a button. “Sit down, tell me about it.”  
  
Adora bites her lip and sits down on the bed as Scorpia offered. “Okay, so.. I went to train and after a while, Shadow Weaver came to me.” She notices Scorpia’s frightened look, “Yeah, she asked. I usually don’t— She’s never been cold to me or anything, but today... She was harsher than usual and scary. She was really disappointed and I don’t understand why... So I lied to her about what happened. Then she gave us the mission to take over Salineas. Should we do some research before we go? I don’t really know what we do...”  
  
“Yeah, we do research”, she says and goes to sit beside Adora. “Look, it’s okay, Adora. Just because she’s disappointed in you... It doesn’t mean anything for you. That’s her. I think you did everything you could in that situation and you did well”, she murmurs and rubs her back. “I think you’re pretty great.” Scorpia gives her a soft smile, leaning to see her face. “Don’t let her get to you, okay?” She pulls out her little tablet and does research for Salineas.  
  
Adora gives her a small smile and hugs her side. “Thank you”, she murmurs and looks down at the device. "It looks like there’s barely anything left, no defenses or anything. This should be easy. We can take down their barrier, it’s falling apart." She touches her own face where Shadow Weaver touched her before and shivers again at the memory.  
  
Scorpia nods, “Yeah, we can blast it down on the ship.” She raises an eyebrow to Adora’s shivering. “Uhh.. You okay there?” She reaches to tilt her chin gently, only for Adora to wince away at first. She frowns and puts her pincers on Adora’s shoulders. “Adora? What happened?”  
  
“N-Nothing.. She just grabbed my face a little harshly and then was gentle about it and I’m confused”, she murmurs, shrugging a bit. “I don’t know what to think or feel..” Adora sighs and looks to Scorpia as she offers her pincer. She nods and lets Scorpia lift her chin to look at her face.  
  
Scorpia looks at her, not really sure what to say. Instead of saying anything, she kisses her cheek softly, almost tenderly where Adora had touched and pulls back. “Better?”, she says quietly, her heart racing. She wants so bad to take away and kiss away any discomfort and pain Adora feels.  
  
Adora’s eyes soften as she looks back at Scorpia. She closes her eyes and nods, smiling. “Yeah. A lot better”, she says and decides to return the gesture by kissing Scorpia’s nose. Scorpia blinks in surprise, eyes crossing to see Adora. She smiles widely and chuckles.  
  
“That is cute and really sweet”, Scorpia says, her cheeks blushing.  
  
Adora shakes her head, “Nooo, you’re the one who’s sweet. You’re incredibly sweet for this place. It can be scary sometimes.” She hugs her again and is squeezed in return, making her laugh. "We should get ready for Salineas. I can’t wait, actually, I’ve never been anywhere but the woods. Never seen anywhere else either."  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
Catra groans as she leans on the edge of a weird boat that’s in the air, but in the water? She hates being around all this water, knowing she’s going to die. It will kill her, she just knows it._ It wants to take me down and drag me all the way to the bottom and drown me before I get to learn about my old life._ She glares up at the man named after some bird, Bow said. He won’t stop singing, and it’s so annoying. Her tail is all frizzed up as it swishes behind her, hair also frizzed up. Glimmer teleports beside her and she screams in surprise, jumping high onto the mast. _“Don’t!!! Do!! That!!!In the water!!!”_. she yells at her.  
  
“I just wanted to see if you were okay!!!”, she yells back, clearly annoyed about the sea captain as well. She teleports up beside Catra and sits on the wood with her. “But I can see you’re not. You’re pretty freaked out, huh?”, she asks, putting her hand on Catra’s back. Glimmer looks down as Bow joins him in singing. “Sea Hawk is pretty annoying.”  
  
Catra nods, glaring down as she calms thanks to Glimmer’s hand. “Yeah, he’s pretty damn annoying. Bow looks like he’s enjoying himself, though. He reminds me of Adora sometimes. They’d probably get along really well. You too, probably.”  
  
Glimmer frowns and looks at Catra, “Hey, don’t spend all your time thinking about her. She didn’t want to leave that horrible place. We have a mission to do.”  
  
Catra scowls, bringing her knees to her chest. “I don’t think she knows. She’s really a nice, naive person”, she murmurs. “She thinks that what Shadow Weaver was doing to us was normal. Like, it is just something that happens normally.”  
  
“That’s... That’s sad. What was she doing to you?”, Glimmer asks, concerned for what was going on with them. She doesn’t see any marks on Catra, so she’s not really sure if it was physical. Catra sighs, not really wanting to talk about it. She shakes her head, looking out to the sea. “Come on, Catra... We can’t do anything if we don’t know.”  
  
Catra groans and looks at Glimmer. “I’m not ready to talk about it, Sparkles. Maybe later, if I get comfortable with you.. I can tell you about it. Not now, though, I barely know either of you.” She notices her eyes go from concern to hurt to understanding before she looks away. Catra reaches out and places a hand on Glimmer’s knee. “Thank you, though. You, uh.. You can be nice.”  
  
Glimmer rolls her eyes, “Gee, thanks.” She smiles playfully afterwards to show she isn’t seriously annoyed. She laughs a bit, even. “That’s okay, we’ll talk about it sometime...”  
  
“It... It’s all her fault, though. Adora.. I was always second best because of her. Everytime we got in trouble, she didn’t do anything to stop Shadow Weaver..”, Catra growls, not looking to Glimmer and hugging herself. “She doesn’t do anything to stop her.. Everyone always chooses her over me.”  
  
“Maybe she didn’t know what to do, or what was going on”, Glimmer offers, starting to look worried.  
  
Catra narrows her eyes, “How could she not?” She scoffs and lets out a low, angry yowl. “She’s always more important.” Glimmer gently places her hands on Catra’s shoulders and teleports her down. She looks at Bow, who immediately stands and goes to them. Bow stands in front of them and gently takes Catra’s hands. He gives her a smile.  
  
“Catra, why don’t we talk this out?”, he offers soothingly.  
  
She snatches her hands from his, “I don’t _want_ to, Bow!! We have too much stuff to do and I don’t really know either of you that well!!!” Catra storms to the front of the ship and leans on the railing, sighing heavily. After a moment, she hears footsteps behind her and she huffs. “I told you I didn’t want to—",  
  
“Hey there, lassie..... I saw you had a spat with your friends and wanted to see if you were alright?”, Sea Hawk asks, deciding to stand off from Catra. He puts his hands up to show he was friendly, and a little scared because she was very intimidating. She actually intimidated him into taking them to Salineas.  
  
Catra frowns and sighs, trying to calm down. “Alright? Yeah.. I’m fine. How much longer?” The Salineas Sea Gate is coming into view and she looks back. Bow and Glimmer walk up to Catra and each place a hand on her shoulders. “We don’t have to... Swim, do we?”


	4. salineas, at last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh, you okay there?”, Adora asks, giving Scorpia a little nudge. 
> 
> The scorpion-hybrid’s face flushes and she puts up her pincers, waving them. “No, no! I mean— I’m fine! I’m fine. Just thinking about how you’re my best friend, I think”, she blurts out before sighing and pressing one of her pincers to her face.
> 
> Adora lets out a small chuckle and moves the pincer away, “You think of me as a best friend?” When Scorpia nods, she finds herself blushing, too. “I think of you as a best friend, too.”
> 
> Scorpia grins and stands before lifting up Adora. “Yeah??”, she asks as she throws her up in the air. They both start laughing Adora hugs on her neck tightly when she lands. She notices the gate coming into view and sits up to look over Scorpia’s shoulder. “What is it?”, the scorpion hybrid asks before turning so she can see it too. “Oh. Looks like we’re here, then.”

Scorpia grins as she looks over the ship, excited to finally work with Adora on a mission. After having gotten so close so quick, she’s very curious about her mission habits. Adora is supposed to be a great Force Captain since she conquered Thaymor. She would love nothing more than to see what she’s like at work. She leans over the railing of the higher part o the ship, watching her as she looks excitedly at the ocean. _It’s like she’s never seen the ocean before. Wait... Has she ever seen the ocean?_ Scorpia raises an eyebrow, shaking her head at the thought. There’s no way someone hasn’t seen an ocean. She pushes off the rail gently and heads down to the deck. “Uh, Adora? You okay?”  
  
“Hm?”, Adora stops leaning over the railing of the bow and looks back at Scorpia with a big smile. “Oh! I’m just looking at these things swimming with us! Since we’re going kinda slow, they like to jump and touch my hand with their...bodies.”  
  
Scorpia takes a peek over the side of the boat and looks at the creatures Adora was talking about. “Oh, the dolphins! Yeah, they’re pretty nice and docile. A lot nicer than the sharks.”  
  
Adora’s eyes sparkle with the knowledge, “Dolphins? That’s a weird name. So.. what’s up with sharks?”  
  
“Oh, they don’t particularly do anything unless... They smell blood. Or you’re foundering about, looking like something delicious”, she explains, pointing a pincer out to a fin that wasn’t leaping in the water. “So be careful, please?” Scorpia gives Adora a soft smile and sees her nod.   
  
Adora leans against the railing and watches the dolphins swimming again. “How did you learn so much about this stuff”, she asks, mesmerized by the animals.  
  
Scorpia leans against the railing as well and looks over where Adora is looking, “Hmm..” She shrugs when she can’t come up with an answer. “I’ve just been out on a lot of missions, I guess. I learned stuff in Force Captain orientation, too.” She can’t help finding this Adora cute. She looks so excited and curious, eager to figure stuff out. The marks on her cheek remain, scarring the delicate flesh. She bites her lip, trying not to smile too big. She shakes her head at herself, thinking this is what it’s like having a best friend. Adora is definitely her best friend. They’ll probably work together great as a battle couple— _team!! As a team!!_ Scorpia covers her face in embarrassment at herself. She doesn’t notice Adora looking at her in confusion.  
  
“Uh, you okay there?”, Adora asks, giving Scorpia a little nudge.   
  
The scorpion-hybrid’s face flushes and she puts up her pincers, waving them. “No, no! I mean— I’m fine! I’m fine. Just thinking about how you’re my best friend, I think”, she blurts out before sighing and pressing one of her pincers to her face.  
  
Adora lets out a small chuckle and moves the pincer away, “You think of me as a best friend?” When Scorpia nods, she finds herself blushing, too. “I think of you as a best friend, too.”  
  
Scorpia grins and stands before lifting up Adora. “Yeah??”, she asks as she throws her up in the air. They both start laughing Adora hugs on her neck tightly when she lands. She notices the gate coming into view and sits up to look over Scorpia’s shoulder. “What is it?”, the scorpion hybrid asks before turning so she can see it too. “Oh. Looks like we’re here, then.”  
  
“I think we should start right away. There’s no telling when the princess and Catra will get here”, Adora says, looking to Scorpia with determination. “How close do we need to be to fire the cannon?”  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
Having been allowed to bring their boat to the private port of Salineas, Sea Hawk stays with his ship. He watches as Catra, Glimmer and Bow leave to talk to Princess Mermista. However, despite being asked not to come, he can’t resist making an appearance to his close personal friend. As soon as he walks in, Mermista catches sight of him. She immediately groans, dragging it out some. “Ew, who let _him _back in here??”, she asks, voice annoyed yet monotone. “You are banned, remember?”  
  
Catra snorts quietly, liking this new princess already. That comes as a surprise to her since she didn’t think there would be any cool princesses. She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “What did you do to get banned?”  
  
Bow chimes in, “Yeah, I thought you said she liked you?”  
  
“He got us kicked out of the dolphin social for challenging the doorman to a duel. He also set our boat on fire in the tunnel of love”, she answers, not letting Sea Hawk speak as he plopped himself down in Mermista’s lap.  
  
He bites his lip, putting a hand behind his head. “I....don’t...remember doing that”, he lies, not wanting to seem so bad.  
  
Mermista shoves him out of her lap and huffs, “Butler? Can you bring us some hors d’oeuvres please? For everyone but Sea Hawk.” She adds the last bit when she notices Sea Hawk’s eyes light up.  
  
Glimmer frowns a bit, “Butler? Your guard is your butler?”  
  
Mermista stands and grabs her trident. She walks over to the three, stepping over Sea Hawk. “I’m a _little_ understaffed right now. The gate is falling apart or whatever, so everyone fled. It doesn’t help that the Horde won’t stop attacking it.”  
  
Catra’s eyes narrow, “What did you just say?” As if on cue, the throne room shakes from a blast outside. The group go outside to find the gate flickering and a big Horde ship not too far out from Salineas. Her tail frizzes up and she clenches her fist. “Adora. It has to be, she’s they’re prized Force Captain now.” She turns to Sea Hawk and jabs a finger to his chest. “We’re going to that boat and we’re going to stop them, and—" Catra turns to Bow, "You’re going to shoot a net at her. Glimmer will knock her out and teleport her to the ship and that way, the Horde loses their best Force Captain." _And I get Adora back._  
  
“That’s... That’s actually a good plan. Wow, you came up with that quick”, Bow comments, nodding. He places his hand to his chin, thinking more on it. “Glimmer? Sound good to you?”  
  
Glimmer puts her hands on her hips, “Yeah, sure, and what about the fact that she’s probably not alone, huh?” She paces and looks out to the Horde ship in the ocean. “We’ll have to fight probably— Wait, but you know how they fight! Alright, we have an advantage. We can’t fix the gate, though...”  
  
Catra sighs, “We’ll figure that out after we’re done. If we worry about it now, it won’t make any difference. Come on, let’s go already!!” She runs towards Sea Hawk’s boat, The Dragon’s Daughter and leaps onto the pole of the mast. She looks to Bow and Mermista. “It would probably be best if you can stop the ship from moving or doing anymore damage.”  
  
“Uh, right!”, Bow says and runs to the series of big rocks at the edge of Salineas and shoots an arrow with a rope on it towards the Horde ship. He then uses it to reel him to the ship after it lands in the sail and slides down with his bow. Mermista leaps into the water, turning her legs into a mermaid tail. She swims up to the hovering ship and starts sending water against its side as Bow fights Lonnie.   
  
Scorpia fires the cannon again, causing another large hole in the gate. She steps back once a ‘stray’ arrow goops the weapon, “Aw, come on!”   
  
“Behind you!”, Adora yells and Scorpia kneels down to let her jump from her back and propel her forward.   
  
Scorpia tries to clean the goop off the weapon, trusting Adora to handle herself. She occasionally watches to make sure she’s got it. Once the goop is off, she notices Adora and the rebel wrestling now. It almost looks like they’re enjoying themselves, too. After a leg sweep that sends Adora down to her surprise, Scorpia grabs the guy by the collar of his shirt and throws him. He screams as he falls, scared of landing in the big ventilation fan before he is saved by the,,,pirate man? She goes over to Adora and offers her pincer to help her up. “Are you alright?”  
  
Adora nods, dusting herself off. “Thank you... You got him? Good job”, she smiles at Scorpia and walks back to the cannon to finish off the failing gate. “Since.. I think his name is Bow, is here, that means Catra and that princess are here too.”  
  
“You know their names?”, Scorpia asks, raising an eyebrow. “Wow. You’re so smart, where did you find that out!”  
  
Adora smiles sheepishly, “Well... I remember them yelling each other’s names when they took Catra from me before I could free her while she was unconscious, so..”  
  
Scorpia puts a pincer on her shoulder, “Hey! That just means you’re a good listener!” When she sees Adora look a little proud of herself, she smiles wider. Adora fires a few more shots at the gate, it’s nearly destroyed now. She moves aside to let Scorpia take the last ones with her as Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio climb onto the deck. “Good job, guys. You held them off pretty good!”  
  
“Yeah, that was great”, Adora agrees with a smile herself. “Thanks to you guys, we did more damage to the gate and we’re about to finish.” Adora starts to smell smoke and looks around. “Whoa!”  
  
Scorpia raises an eyebrow and looks the same direction and gasps. “They set their boat on fire and towards ours!”, she says before yelling. She scoops up Kyle and Lonnie, then Rogelio. “Come on, Adora, we need to go!!”  
  
Adora looks back and forth between Scorpia and the gate, nearly destroyed. “...I gotta stay, I can make it!”  
  
“Adora, come on!!”, Scorpia pleads and looks at the water, then back to Adora.   
  
“Scorpia, it’s okay, I got this!”, she says, pulling the big cannon handle. Adora looks into her eyes and it’s almost as if Scorpia knows. She nods and jumps off the ship with their crew in her arms.   
  
Adora smiles before huffing as she pulls the handle again, firing another blast. She then decides to charge the blast, holding the handle back. “Hey, Adora...”, a familiar voice says to her and she looks up to see Catra on the end of her cannon’s barrel. She crawls down to stand on top of the box of the weapon in front of the handle. “So this is what you’re doing now, huh? Shadow Weaver has you taking kingdoms?” Adora frowns, not saying anything as her eyes narrow. “Oh, the silent treatment?”   
  
Catra laughs and squats to a prowling position and presses her finger against Adora’s forehead, tilting her head back. “You know, you can come with us, make it all easier on yourself. I don’t understand.. You’re... You’re so dumb, but you can’t be _that_ dumb. The Horde is just going to— No. Shadow Weaver is just going to hurt you in my place. Or..” Catra glowers down at Adora, removing her finger from her forehead. “You just didn’t want to come with me. We were supposed to do everything together, Adora.”  
  
“You’re the one who left, Catra!! You betrayed the Horde!! You left me!!!”, Adora yells, huffing. “I’m not going to betray the Horde, it’s my life!!”  
  
Catra groans loudly, “Adora, you’re so dumb!!! You could have a better life with me, with us, away from the Horde!!”  
  
Adora scowls at Catra, “What, you think insulting me is going to make me think ‘Oh gee, you’re right, I’m going to leave my life behind!’”  
  
Catra raises an eyebrow and laughs, bringing her hand back. “Something like that”, she says before clawing at Adora. The other yelps and holds up one of her arms to block it with a grunt. Catra uses the momentum to land on her feet still and then stands upright. “Come on, Adora, it’s not going to be bad. I’m.. It’s pretty nice, actually. I’ve already seen some of the world, without needing to worry about failing.”  
  
“So... What’s going to happen when I let go of this and fire a huge cannon blast at that gate?”, Adora asks, glaring at Catra.  
  
Catra blinks and narrows her eyes, “Hmm... I guess I’ll just have to kick your ass, won’t I?” Adora tries not to gasp, but does anyway at hearing Catra swear. She’s heard her swear before, but after her recent talk with Shadow Weaver, some of the fear was brought back to her. She shakes her head a bit, trying to forget the old habit. If there was ever even any word of any cadet or Force Captain swearing, they’d be in big trouble in the Horde. No one even bats an eye when she swears now, and it feels so freeding. Catra punches Adora in her stomach, causing her to grunt.   
  
Adora still holds onto the handle, kneeling as she is winded now. She feels claws on her chin, forcing her to look up as Catra stands behind her. “This is what you want? Run down, dangerous hell holes over me?”, she growls and then shakes her head with a laugh. “You have no friends now, you’re all alone. You’re so weak...”  
  
Adora closes her eyes in frustration, tired of this. “She’s not alone”, Scorpia says as she heaves herself over the edge of the deck and tackles Catra to the ground. “She has me!!”  
  
“Scorpia!!”, Adora yells as the two engage one another while she charges the cannon’s blast to full power. Catra huffs and tries to kick Scorpia off of her. Scorpia rolls over tries to keep her from crawling her way to Adora.  
  
“No!! You’re not going to ruin our first mission together!!”, Scorpia yells as Catra keeps trying to wriggle free of her arms.   
  
Catra groans and hisses, looking up as The Dragon’s Daughter, on fire, gets closer and closer. “Get off me!!”, she screeches.   
  
As the boats collide, the Horde ship violently lurches forward, causing Adora let go of the handle. The cannon’s barrel explodes with the shot, sending her flying back and knocking her out. Scorpia has Catra covered, her big heart causing her to surge into action of protecting those closest to her. They separate, looking up to find Adora. When she isn’t found by the weapon, Catra immediately jumps up. “Adora!?” Her voice is loud and squeaky with worry, rifling through the rubble of the ship as it’s burning down.   
  
Scorpia groans, blinking a few times to regain her focus. “Huh?”, she asks, looking around to see what's wrong. When she doesn't find Adora, she gasps and gets up. “Adora??? Adora, where are you??”, she hurriedly roots around in the rubble as well, working together with Catra to find Adora. Scorpia uncovers Adora's arm, “Over here!!” Catra is at her side almost immediately and helps uncover the rest of her.  
  
“Adora... Adora?”, she murmurs, pressing her ear to Adora’s mouth in a panic to hear if she’s breathing. At the soft tickle of breath against her ear, causing it to flick, Catra sighs and finds herself hugging Adora’s head to her chest. “Oh thank Etheria..” Her voice is now a soft whisper to herself, feeling so relieved. She blinks and looks at Scorpia, realizing now she has Adora knocked out and she can totally take her to the rebellion herself.  
  
Scorpia looks at Adora with worry, waiting for Catra to say something. “Is she okay?? Is she alive??”  
  
Catra looks down at Adora, then to the gate that’s falling to pieces now. She pulls Adora into her arms and stands, before running away. “Wait— What are you doing!?”, Scorpia yells before chasing her. She yelps as the ship lurches again, causing her to knock Catra to the ground, which causes Adora to be flung out of her arms. “What are you doing?! You can’t just kidnap a person!!!”  
  
“Get off of me!!!”, Catra yells and reaches out towards unconscious Adora. The ship starts to break between Adora and the other two. “Let me go!!!”  
  
Scorpia gasps as the ship breaks and she gets up, bringing Catra up with her by grabbing the back of her shirt and holding her out. Catra struggles, but can’t get herself free despite the amount of thrashing. Scorpia jumps over the gap between the parts of the ship and coughs as she runs through the smoke. She holds her back, winding her arm back and looking at the rocks, where the rest of Catra’s group is as if giving them a moment to understand what’s about to happen.  
  
Bow nudges Glimmer, who looks at him in confusion and then to where he points. “Is she about to... Is that Catra?”, he asks before gasping.   
  
“She’s going to throw her off the boat!!”, Glimmer yells and stands up. “Mermista, you think you can blast me up into the air with water?”  
  
Mermista uncrosses her arms, “Uh.. I guess...” She flicks her wrist slowly, water bubbling up in a spout beside her. “Get on.” Glimmer gets on the water sprout and is propelled into the air. When Scorpia sees this, she throws Catra as hard as she can to the princess so she can catch her. This way, the magicat wouldn’t get wet. Glimmer grunts when they collide and teleports them back to the boulders. Catra pants heavily, all frizzed up from fear of falling into the water. Also from being upset about losing Adora again. She really thought this was going to work, and she was so close. Her eyes sting, but she shakes her head and discards the thoughts, not allowing herself to cry.   


* * *

  
  
  
  
Â̸͉̱͍͉̙͊͊̈́͌͗͊͒̉̀̕͘d̵̠̪̱͌͆̿̕ǒ̶̟̜̙̬̤͌̌̈́̀̏̒͛̓̈͜͝ȓ̵̢̧̫̝͔̝̫̹͙̤͌͋̊͊͑̅̍̽̚̚͝a̷̢̗̲̼̹͓̗͖̤͍̬̩̪̎̄́̓̐͠  
  
  
  
Darkness, emptiness is all Adora can perceive. She can hear a garbled, staticky voice calling her name. She can see her sword, the usually dull stone glowing.  
  
** Ã̶̡̨̢̼̯͈͎͙̮̟̫̼̝̟̗̦̱̖͓̩̗̻͆̂̾͒̈̌͊̋͗̎̓̎̊̑̂̿̂̕͘͜d̷̢̢̢̯͙̠̮͙̭͕̥̱͉̗͙͕̜̻̊̎͂̓́̈́̉̋̄̎̓̏̅̔̂̾͊̂͜͝͠͠͠ͅǫ̴̨̡̢̛̼̱̟͍̩͔̙̙̯̰̪̻̘̓͋̊̍̆̐͗̆̅̈͊̉̈͐̆́̕͝r̴̨̧̢̛̺̳͈̱͖̭̪͍̥̭̥̮̪̝̣̘̗̗͜͜ä̸̡̛̘̦̮́̍̈̅͌̿̏͂̽͘͠͠ **

"Adora??", is the first thing Adora hears when she wakes up. She looks around, panting as she tries to gain her surroundings. She's in her room. Scorpia is beside her. Adora relaxes and lets out a sigh as she feels pain everywhere. "You're awake, thank goodness.. How do you feel?"

Adora looks over to Scorpia and tries to smile, "Everything hurts. What happened?"

Scorpia puts her pincers together, tapping their points as she tries to figure out how to put it in a way that doesn't scare her. "Mmm... Okay. You decided to charge the last blast that could be done for the battle of Salineas. I jumped off the boat with Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio in my arms to get them safe. When you didn't come after a few minutes, I came back up and found your friend Catra attacking you and yelling at you and I stepped in. Their fire boat hit our ship and made it explode, which made you lose grip of the cannon. That caused the ship to almost explode as it sent the final blast, which destroyed the gate. You were knocked out and we got so scared that we lost you. Catra tried to take you, but I stopped her. It's been a week and some change."

Adora blinks, absorbing all that information. "...She tried to take me?", she asks, focusing on that part. She wonders why, if it's probably a way to make the Horde weak. "You saved me."

"Oh, and her. I threw her off the boat before it exploded. I figured that would've been horrible if you lost her in the midst of all this..", Scorpia adds, moving some of Adora's hair from her face. "I didn't want you to hurt more, you know?"

"Yeah", Adora murmurs, giving her a smile. "Thank you so much for that, and saving me", she says and sleepily presses her face to Scorpia's pincer. "Can I tell you about something? I need to tell you... It's kind of a secret."

Scorpia blushes at seeing Adora press closer. "Are you okay? You can tell me anything." She's a little alarmed at how Adora feels like she has to ask, but decides to take it as her way of showing that she's ready to keep actual secrets with her. 

Adora closes her eyes, scrunching up her face a bit before sighing. "I heard a voice. Someone spoke to me.. Or something. It said my name, and I saw my sword. Everything was dark, but I saw my sword in the darkness and it was glowing."

"...A voice you don't recognize?", Scorpia asks, her face etched with worry now. When Adora nods in affirmative, she presses gently. "Do you think it's connected with the sword?"

Adora bites her lip, looking around before nodding. "Yeah. I don't know what it could mean, though. I don't think I can tell Shadow Weaver about this. Did she say anything when we came back?"

Scorpia shakes her head, "She just had you in the infirmary for a day before having you brought here. Assigned me to tend to you and to tell her when you wake up."

"Lucky me", she murmurs after hearing Scorpia say she was assigned to tend to her. This makes Scorpia blush again and Adora smiles at that. 

"Shh. I'm just glad you're alright, sunshine", Scorpia replies and stands. "Want me to go ahead and let Shadow Weaver know you're awake so we can get that over with?"

Adora sighs, frowning at the reminder. "Might as well...", she says before turning onto her side to face the door. "Thank you for everything." Scorpia smiles at her before leaving to do as Shadow Weaver asked. It isn't long before the sorceress arrives, shadows darkening the doorway. By the time it took her to come, Adora's eyes are closed. She can feel her presence, however, so she opens her eyes. "Did I do it? Is Salineas ours?"

Shadow Weaver glides in and kneels beside Adora's bed. "Yes, my child. You did good work that day", she murmurs and looks over Adora's face. "The Horde now has Salineas in its grasp, which shortens Brightmoon's expanse, or keeps it at bay at least. I am proud of you."

"Thank you... Sorry it resulted in the lost of that ship", she murmurs, giving her a small smile.

"A small sacrifice for a kingdom of a princess. We may have gained ground, but we are of no greater power. While you were unconscious, Plumeria escaped from our grasps. It was taken by the Rebellion, who apparently had help..", Shadow Weaver materializes a small tablet device from her shadows and presents it to Adora. "From Catra, who you claimed to be dead." Darkness slowly begins to envelop the room, crawling closer and closer to Adora. On the tablet, a video on loop plays of Catra tearing apart the poisoning device they were using to weaken the land and runestone. Without even giving Adora a chance to explain, she leans closer, "Your lies will not protect her from my wrath should I get my hands on her. I expect her to be dealt with the next time you two meet, or else." She snatches the device from Adora and leaves, the shadows going with her. "You must let go."

Adora hugs herself, trying to breathe as she swears she feels shadows strangling her. Her eyes close tight and her hands meet. Her fingers dig into the other hand at the knuckles, picking nervously as she begins to fear the worse. She shakes her head, telling herself she can't do it. She won't do it. After a few minutes, she doesn't even hear the door open again. She does feel arms wrap around her and hold her close, pincers carefully placed in a comfortable hold. Her own arms move to lace behind Scorpia's neck. "I'm here... I'm here, sunshine.... _Just breathe_."


	5. feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s kind of admirable, Adora...”, she murmurs softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Not wanting to give up on someone is very admirable. I hope you’re right.. Maybe the three of us could be a super pal trio. That would be fun, huh?” Of course, I’d need to get over how much I don’t like her first for hurting Adora like this in the first place... If I can... 
> 
> Adora blinks a couple times and looks up at Scorpia, “Yeah? That would probably be fun.” She starts to feel calmer, with Scorpia holding her and telling her sweet things. “That would be great.”
> 
> Scorpia holds Adora’s face with her pincer and smiles at her lovingly. She leans down and Adora closes her eyes, she too leaning up. They can feel their calm breaths on each other’s lips, betraying their heartbeats. Scorpia’s lips tremble as she thinks of closing the distance between them, kissing Adora’s lips finally. Like she doesn’t think about it sometimes when Adora falls asleep before her. She wonders if the other thinks it when that time is reversed. “Almost every time we have to leave and do different things, I miss you so much. I can’t wait to see you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmm gettin a little angsty and fluffy

“Okay, so, I’ve helped you establish your Princess Alliance... When are we going to find out about me? What— Why am I around? Am I a princess or what?”, Catra asks Glimmer as she and Bow walk with her around the trail on the mountains. They’re on their way to hopefully recruit Princess Entrapta. _Must be a princess of traps or something... I mean, isn’t it obvious? What else would she be the princess of?_  
  
Glimmer shrugs, “I don’t know, we haven’t really had time to look into it. At least we’re able to rule out that there’s nothing in Salineas and Plumeria.”  
  
Bow holds up a finger, “Oh! There was something in Plumeria. It was... She told us about the legend of She-Ra. Even had some ancient carvings to show us. She looked familiar.”  
  
_She looked like Adora. That’s weird and impossible, but she looked just like her but with long hair. _Catra growls, crossing her arms. “Yeah, I don’t want to remember that thank you. But anyways, do we have a plan for what we’re going to do when we get to Dryl?”, she asks with a huff, ready to change the subject.  
  
“Right. When we meet her, we’ll talk to her, try to be friends with her and then ask if she needs help with anything. When she asks what she can do in return, we can be like ‘You know, you could join our alliance?’ and she’ll be like ‘That sounds fun!!’ I mean, she is the best and smartest scientist!”, Bow says with a grin. “I’m sorry!! I’m just.. so excited!!!”  
  
Catra smiles a bit at seeing Bow excited, finding it kind of cute. _He and Adora would really get along, they’re both dumb and precious_. She shakes her head, laughing at herself. “Think she might know anything? You know... About me?”  
  
Glimmer tilts her head in thought, turning the idea over. “It’s certainly possible. I mean, we never know and it’ll definitely be worth it to ask”, she says with a smile. She places a hand on Catra’s shoulder and gives her a squeeze when she sees her look down. “Hey, we’re going to find out about you, okay?”  
  
“...You promise?”, Catra murmurs when she looks back at Glimmer after being touched.  
  
“I promise”, the princess says in response. She doesn’t hear some of the nearby boulders roll down the mountain and close their path til they crash loudly, causing her to yelp and teleporting away with Catra. After a moment, she teleports back and crosses her arms. “Not a word.”  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Adora groans softly as she sits up in Scorpia’s bed. The two have taken to sharing their rooms with each other and sleeping together in both rooms. She stretches and turns to her friend, who is behind her asleep. “Are you awake?” When she gets no response, she nuzzles her face into Scorpia’s neck. This causes her to stir, one of her pincers slowly beginning to stroke her back gently. “Are you pretending to be asleep?”  
  
After a moment, Scorpia peeks an eye open and smiles sheepishly. “Okay, but I fell asleep again watching you sleep. You looked so cute and peaceful when you were asleep! You usually look really stressed, sunshine”, she murmurs softly.  
  
“Yeah, I guess I am.. I’m just trying to keep myself in peak condition so I don’t disappoint Shadow Weaver. It’s kinda what I do”, Adora says with a small shrug. “You’ve been a great help for the sparring.” She leans close and kisses her cheek.  
  
Scorpia blinks at the affection, remembering it’s something she needs to get used to. She blushes, smiling softly. “Hmm...What do you think about...” She bites her lip, her eyes looking into Adora’s, who is looking at her lips. She swallows, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous. “Adora?”  
  
Adora quickly looks up at Scorpia, face flushing. “Yes! I mean, yes? Something wrong?”  
  
“Uhh, no.. Just uh, wondering what you’re thinking”, Scorpia responds with a little nervous chuckle.  
  
“Oh— I was, uh.. I was thinking about... Uh, why is your top lip black and not your bottom lip?”, Adora asks, trying to get her mind off the thought of how soft they are on her face.  
  
Scorpia blinks, grabbing a little stick off her small dresser and taking the cap off. “It’s just lipstick.” When she sees Adora make no motion like she knows what that is, she points at her lips. “I only put it on the top one, works better for me. It just makes me look pretty.”  
  
Adora takes the stick from Scorpia and looks at it. She touches the little smooth mound that appears to be used often. It gets on her fingers and she looks slightly distressed, wiping it on her jacket. Then she looks at Scorpia’s lips and has a thought. “So it doesn’t, say, get on _my_ face when you kiss my cheeks sometimes?”  
  
“No, not that I’ve seen”, Scorpia giggles, happy that she’s become of interest. Her eyes widen when Adora reaches out and cups her face. She gently brushes her thumb over Scorpia’s top lip and hums thoughtfully. “Mm? What is it?”, she asks slowly, a little dazed by Adora’s touch.  
  
Adora looks at her thumb and sees no marks on it, “It didn’t smudge.”  
  
Scorpia laughs awkwardly, “It takes a good, uh.. It takes some good rubbing there to get it off.” She raises an eyebrow when Adora leans closer. “A little more force, yeah.” She looks into Adora’s eyes, noticing how they glance down to her lips again. She leans closer too, her heart pounding in her ears. “Adora?”, she whispers.  
  
“Hm?”, Adora murmurs before pressing her lips together in a flat line. She looks down, leaning back. “Sorry, I don’t... I used to do best friend stuff, which was kissing and— and touching... I guess I miss it.”  
  
Scorpia lifts Adora’s chin with one of her pincers and notices she looks a little sad. “That’s not best friend stuff. You do that when you really like someone, more than a best friend. Like, in a special way...” She presses her lips to Adora’s forehead when she sees it crease with confusion. “You, uh... Well, I guess it can be best friend kisses. How did you kiss each other?”  
  
“Uhh... Wow, I never really thought about it. Sometimes soft.. Sometimes we kissed so hard we bruised each other’s lips. While we were naked”, Adora explains plainly. “What would be a best friend kiss?”  
  
Scorpia’s face flushes when Adora mentions the nudity and pinches the bridge of her nose, not wanting to think about it. She can’t help but feel jealous of that girl she met on the ship. From how she sees it, that Catra had everything she’d wanted here and didn’t really have to not come back. “Uhh, uhh, well... We’ve kind of already been doing that. Kisses on the cheek and the forehead. K-Kisses on the lips... Kisses on the lips are a lot more intimate.” She notices Adora looks confused again, “They make you feel harder or more. That’s also why you kiss on the lips and uh... Do the other stuff.”  
  
Adora starts nodding, “Ohhh. So it’s not a normal thing. Wow.... I’ve...I’ve done some intimate things then.”  
  
“I wouldn’t consider just being naked as intimate, because... Well, I’m sure we’ve all seen each other naked at some time in the locker rooms after training. I-I mean, not you and me, but... you know, that happens when you’re a team. It’s only really something special when you’re touching each other”, Scorpia squirms, feeling a little awkward talking about this. Her parents told her about these things when she was young, so she just assumed everyone knew. It never crossed her mind that her colleagues weren’t taught these things growing up in the Horde. “Touching each other while you're naked..”  
  
Adora looks at Scorpia with a blank expression, absorbing the lesson she’s learning now. “Okay, what if we touched each other with our mouths while we were naked?”  
  
That is a question Scorpia was not expecting. Her eyes widen and she covers her face with her pincers, “Oh my— Do you— Adora!!!” Her voice is a squeaky whisper and she shakes her head. “That’s— Really, Adora?? Do you even know what sex is?” She peeks at her over her pincers and sees her shake her head. _I think I’m in love with the sweetest, maybe dumbest girl I’ve ever met. _“I, uh... I guess I should explain it, then.”  
  
“Wouldn’t it be easier just to show me?”, Adora asks with a pout, not really wanting to learn anything today.  
  
“I— NO!!! Adora, no!!”, Scorpia grabs the woman’s shoulders and sighs, feeling like her soul will leave her body. She straightens up and looks into Adora’s eyes. “If I showed you, that means we would be having sex. Do you want that?”  
  
As if understanding now, Adora’s eyes widen a bit. “O-Oh. I think I see now. Okay”, she says awkwardly, clearing her throat. The question in her mind remains, though. _Do I want to do these things with Scorpia?_ Adora begins to blush as she asks herself that and she looks up at Scorpia. “I don’t think I’d be ready for that yet. I really like being with close with you and it’s so nice. I feel like.. I feel like I want to be closer. It feels a little weird to think about it, but it also feels so...” She doesn’t want to say good, it’s something more than that. It’s better than great. “Makes me feel light.”  
  
Scorpia looks down when Adora seems to understand, feeling a little hurt. She assumes that she wouldn’t want any part of that with her now that she knows what it would mean. However, when Adora says ‘yet’, she looks back at her. She starts to smile, cheeks about as red as her exo skeleton. “You feel special things for me? I-I feel special things for you. I mean, you’re like my sunshine... You brighten up my day whenever I see you, like the sun. And when you’re happy, it’s like you’re shining.” She hugs Adora tightly, laughing giddily. Then she pulls back and frowns. “Are you okay, though?”  
  
“What do you mean?”, Adora asks, frowning as well. “I just found out you feel special about me, I think I’m great.”  
  
“I mean, how do you feel about your friend? Do you need any help getting through that first, because I’m here for you. I can put aside my feelings”, Scorpia offers as she gently takes Adora’s face in her pincers. “I want to help you.”  
  
Adora’s eyes widen and she suddenly feels like her breath is trapped in her chest. Her eyes sting and she gently takes Scorpia’s pincers from her face, but holds them in her hands. “I don’t know how I feel about her, we’re best friends. I still want to be that, but it gets harder and harder. It hurts so much”, she says softly, her voice breaking as she tries not to cry. The sound makes Scorpia’s heart ache and she pulls Adora against her chest. “I can’t hate her, I don’t want to, She’s so important to me, but she won’t come back.”  
  
Scorpia lets Adora’s face bury into her neck and she holds her on her lap. “You don’t have to hate her. If she doesn’t want to come back, though, maybe you should let it be. I mean, if it hurts so much.”  
  
“I don’t want to give up on her. She’ll remember her loyalties and come back some day, I just know it”, she sniffles. “She’ll remember how we’re best friends and she’ll miss me and want to come back." Adora rubs at her eyes, trying not to cry.  
  
“That’s kind of admirable, Adora...”, she murmurs softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Not wanting to give up on someone is very admirable. I hope you’re right.. Maybe the three of us could be a super pal trio. That would be fun, huh?” _Of course, I’d need to get over how much I don’t like her first for hurting Adora like this in the first place... If I can..._  
  
Adora blinks a couple times and looks up at Scorpia, “Yeah? That would probably be fun.” She starts to feel calmer, with Scorpia holding her and telling her sweet things. “That would be great.”  
  
Scorpia holds Adora’s face with her pincer and smiles at her lovingly. She leans down and Adora closes her eyes, she too leaning up. They can feel their calm breaths on each other’s lips, betraying their heartbeats. Scorpia’s lips tremble as she thinks of closing the distance between them, kissing Adora’s lips finally. Like she doesn’t think about it sometimes when Adora falls asleep before her. She wonders if the other thinks it when that time is reversed. “Almost every time we have to leave and do different things, I miss you so much. I can’t wait to see you again.”  
  
“I miss you before we even leave each other... I just know that we don’t have the same things to do during the day and I already miss you before we head out”, Adora admits, a soft laugh escaping her lips. “I miss your arms. They’re so strong and give me such great hugs.”  
  
Scorpia smiles at the sound of her laughing, “I miss your dumb little hairpoof. It’s cute, but it looks funny sometimes.”  
  
Adora snorts and playfully pushes her, “Shut up, come on, Catra said it looked good when I did this when I was younger.”  
  
“I mean, for you, yeah. In general... It kinda makes your forehead look big”, Scorpia winks, teasing her.  
  
Adora gasps and pulls back a bit, crossing her arms. “My forehead isn’t big!!”  
  
Now Scorpia laughs, finding little angry Adora so cute. “Uh, yeah, it is. But! You know why it’s big?” She presses a kiss to her sunshine’s forehead and pulls back. “For kisses.” Adora then smiles and cups Scorpia’s face in her hand.  
  
“That was kind of smooth”, she says, pressing a kiss to her nose. Scorpia closes her eyes and presses her forehead to Adora’s. She smiles and holds Adora like this for a while, since they don’t really have anything to do today. Adora doesn’t have to think about Catra right now, she can let herself be consumed by Scorpia now. However, she is anxious about not doing anything. “Thank you”, she murmurs, reaching up to run her fingers along Scorpia’s neck. This signals Scorpia to open her eyes. “For thinking of me that way.” Scorpia smiles and she rolls them to the side so she they can both lay comfortably, facing each other.  


* * *

  
  
Catra’s tail swishes about as she sits on a tall pile of boxes while Bow and Glimmer are trying to fight off the robots on the princess’s lab. Said princess is beside her, yelling for them to be careful. “Who looks at some kind of pointy text piece that turns red and thinks ‘must preserve’!? Especially after it makes your robots attack everyone?!”, she yells at Entrapta.  
  
“It’s all part of the experiment!! Isn’t it fascinating!?”, Entrapta laughs, taking notes down in her little notepad. “You never told me what that is on your head, by the way. It’s not any tech I’ve read about or seen before.”  
  
Catra touches the mask on her head, taken to using it like a hair band to keep her bangs from her face. “I don’t know anything about it either. It apparently made me turn into a big cat, but I wasn’t conscious for it and don’t know how to do it again.”  
  
Entrapta hums for a moment, dodging a flying arrow as she circles Catra. Catra narrows her eyes, becoming annoyed with the attention. “Yeah, that doesn’t look like any tech to me. It must be a magical item!”, she says as she touches it. “Have you tried thinking cat thoughts?”  
  
“What the hell is a cat??”, Catra asks, swatting Entrapta’s hand away.  
  
Entrapta pulls out a little tape recorder and speaks quietly into it, “It appears the magicat does not know how to act like a traditional feline. Perhaps a loss of memory?”  
  
Catra narrows her eyes, annoyed that she has now made it on the tape recorder. Great. “You said feline? So— What, just think about being a big version of me?”  
  
“On four legs! Without thumbs!”, Entrapta replies excitedly. “With a lot more fur!!!”  
  
Catra sighs and scowls, feeling a little embarrassed to think about that. She slides the mask down and backs up before moving to her hands and knees. She grits her teeth, feeling more animalistic as she concentrates. She lets out a roar as she transforms into a panther. She leaps into the fray, clawing at the infected robots left and right. She hisses when one grabs her tail and thrashes about, trying to attack what’s behind her. A sonic arrow hits the robot, causing the others to swarm it and allowing Catra to get free. She skids to the red, pointy device and claws at it till it breaks into a few pieces. It stops glowing and everything comes to a stop. The infection fades from the robots and they return to their prior states. Catra walks over to Bow and Glimmer, who just stare at her. She sits and her eyes narrow as if she’s concentrating again.  
  
Entrapta brings herself down from the boxes using her hair and goes to her staff, a couple strands of hair wringing themselves like hands as she smiles sheepishly. “I’mmmmm sorry for endangering your lives and keeping to myself and probably scaring everyone with my robot assistance friends”, she apologizes with an awkward laugh. She feels so guilty for putting them in danger like this. “I’ll...try to do better.”  
  
Catra transforms back into herself, standing in the place of the large cat. She blinks a couple times, getting used to the difference. She stumbles, and is caught by Glimmer, who offers her a smile. When she is steady, she goes to Entrapta and places a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll probably be fine. Think you could join the Rebellion, too? We don’t have much technology, but we sure could use someone smart.”  
  
“Hey!!”, Glimmer and Bow yell in unison. Bow walks over to them and grins. “I’m actually a huge fan of yours!! I’d love to learn from you, if that’s okay?”  
  
Entrapta gasps, “Ooooo, an apprentice!! Yeah, sure, that would be great!!” She grins widely and hugs him in her hair. “How will this work? Do I come with you or do you come for me? We don’t exactly have a way to communicate!” She gasps again and whirls around her lab, trying to scrap together some means of communication.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
“I can do it!! I can take care of her!!!”, Adora pleas in Shadow Weaver’s chambers, watching her stalk about. “I’ll do it, and we can end the alliance. That would end the Rebellion, and we can just— We can just be done. We can be done! It’ll be over.” She breathes heavily, looking up at the sorceress, someone she thought of as a caretaker. Someone important to her.  
  
Shadow Weaver laughs, “Oh Adora... You could never kill that little whelp. After all my training, pushing, you still can’t do one thing. One simple thing. You’re nothing without me breathing down your neck, watching your every move, even with Force Captain Scorpia. You simply can’t let go. Catra is a pain, she was always lazy and weak. For some reason, it seems that you began to fail and she began to succeed when she left.”  
  
Adora stands and marches up to her, “That’s not true, I haven’t failed once!!! I’m the one who took Thaymor, I’m the one who took Salineas—“  
  
The sorceress stops her in her tracks, using dark magic to hold her in place. She hears Adora’s straining, sees her pained eyes, yet she does not relent. “Insolent child, who do you think you are speaking to!?” Shadow Weaver grabs Adora’s jaw roughly, forcing her to look at her face. Adora whimpers and struggles to pull away, but she is paralyzed. She releases her and then gently strokes her jaw. “My dear Adora, you know how I hate punishing you... How about this? I’ll bring her back to you....”  
  
Shadow Weaver releases Adora from her magic, setting her down on her feet. She pats her head, like she would when she praised her in the past. “...Really?”, Adora asks, trying not to flinch away.  
  
“I am true to my word, and you will not doubt me”, Shadow Weaver snaps before shooing her from her chambers. She closes the door and leans against the wall, panting heavily. She feels weak, groaning somewhat. She goes to the runestone and starts drawing its power to her mask, it feeding into a little crystal at its crown. After she draws as much as she can this moment and turns to her clairvoyant, mirrorless vanity. She drags her finger across the water, a vision of Catra, Bow and Glimmer walking in the Whispering Woods. She sends her shadows to follow them and listen to them talk. She laughs as she hears that they are heading to Mystacor. “Perfect...”  
  
  
  
  
  
Adora runs as soon as the door closes, needing to process what all just happened. She doesn’t even really pay attention to where she’s running, but she finds herself on the old look out she and Catra used to go to. She sits at the railing and sighs, hugging herself. She thinks about all the times she found Catra out here, sunbathing and she frowns. She wonders if it would help her any to do that, so she lays back and closes her eyes. Eventually, Adora curls up and falls asleep.  
  
Scorpia panics a little when she can’t find Adora in either of their rooms. She can’t find her in the training rooms, or the locker rooms. She finds out from Lonnie that she may be on the rough, so she heads up there and finds her asleep in the sun. She smiles a bit, but her features are still etched with worry. She sits beside her and pulls her into her lap gently. Scorpia breathes out, relaxing now that she has Adora with her. Now that she knows where she is and that she is most likely safe. “Sunshine...?”, she murmurs softly, stroking her side.  
  
Adora starts waking up and she looks up at Scorpia. She relaxes some and hugs Scorpia’s arm. “She said she’ll get Catra back... Instead of making me kill her...”  
  
“Well...thaat’s....greaat?”, she says questioningly. Scorpia feels disappointed, but she knows that would make Adora happy. _But why isn’t she happy? She looks even more worried than usual... _When Adora shakes her head, she strokes her hair. “What’s wrong?”  
  
She closes her eyes and shakes her head again, not wanting to be thinking. “I don’t trust it. I feel like Catra is in danger, and I can’t do anything about it, as usual...”, she sits up and moves from Scorpia some, hugging herself.  
  
Scorpia feels her eyes sting, seeing Adora so....so hurt and scared and vulnerable is something she hoped she’d never see. “Adora, what are you talking about?”, she murmurs, wrapping an arm around her. “You can do anything, I’ve seen it.”  
  
“Shadow Weaver used to hurt her in front of me, and it was my fault because I didn’t do anything to prevent it from happening and I’ve never been good enough to keep her attention from whenever Catra wasn’t so compliant... And it’s— I was supposed to do something about that, and I didn’t know what. I didn’t think it was anything... I guess abnormal, I thought that’s how it was. That’s just how it was everywhere. Today she— she— ”  
  
Hearing Adora talk about what has been happening to them all these years is sickening. She holds her closer and tilts her head up, “What did she do to you, Adora?” Her voice is cold and angry, but in a protective way. She doesn’t know how to react, knowing that she’s been obeying someone that would do something so horrible. “Adora, please, tell me.”  
  
Adora’s voice fails her and she shakes her head, a choked breath escaping her. She feels Scorpia prying her fingers from herself and when her hands come into view, she sees blood on her knuckles. Her head snaps up, confusion and fear on her face. She didn’t even realize she was picking at them again. “N-No, it’s nothing...”  
  
“It’s not nothing, Adora, if she hurt you—", Scorpia says, tears in her eyes. "I need to know. I can take care of you and make the hurt better. I just need to know, I won’t do anything, I promise."  
  
A strangled sob escapes her lips and she inhales a shaky breath, trying to rid herself of the crushing, painful feeling of not being able to breathe. “She used her magic on me, gripped my jaw harshly and told me how I’m nothing, just a failure because I can’t kill Catra, because I can’t let go and— And she’s right and she touched my face gently and let me go and I just got here. Everything hurts, my whole body hurts, I feel like I’m being crushed and I can’t breathe and—“  
  
Scorpia gathers her up in her arms and holds her close, tightly with all the love she can muster. She just holds her, pulling her into her lap and kissing her head. “I’m here, I’ve got you, it’s okay, sunshine...” When she notices Adora isn’t calming down, tears roll down her cheeks. “I can help you, but it’s going to hurt for a second, okay? It’ll just help you calm down and you might even fall asleep. Would you want that?”  
  
“What are you going to do?”, Adora asks, shuddering breaths against Scorpia’s neck. “A-Are you going to sting me?”  
  
“...Yes. I’m sorry, it’s the only way I can soothe you to be able to take care of you better, okay?”, she says, stroking Adora’s face with both pincers. “It’s okay.” Adora looks up at Scorpia, seeing how painful it is for her to do this. She slowly nods, then gasps as she feels a quick, sharp pain before everything begins to blur. Her eyes close and she passes out in Scorpia’s arms. “I love you, Adora.. I won’t let you go through anything alone..” She takes her to her room and tucks her into the bed, then leaves to get ration bars for her when she awakens. She decides to take the long way, going by Shadow Weaver’s chambers. She sneaks in and notices the sorceress hunched over the mirrorless vanity.  
  
Shadow Weaver laughs quietly, “Too easy.”  
  
Catra’s voice can be heard from the water, as well as...Adora’s?  
  
“Adora, what are you doing here? You know you’ll get caught, and most likely killed.”  
  
“You have to come back, Catra—“  
  
“We’ve already had this talk twice—“  
  
“Catra, please, she’s going to kill me if I don’t bring you back. She sees how worthy you are now, wants to make you a Force Captain. She can tell you things, but she wouldn’t tell me what.”  
  
Silence follows this and there’s rustling, “Adora, I’m so sorry— I never thought she would come for you if I left. I’ll come back, and I’ll take you away, okay? It’ll be okay, I promise, we can figure something out. I’ll find you, okay? Wait for me in the forest.”  
  
At the sound of footsteps, Scorpia narrows her eyes. _She’s manipulating them both?_  
  
Now there’s a different voice, what sounds like Bow’s voice from the ship. “Maybe you’re right. She’s going to betray us, Glimmer... All she cares about is herself”, he whispers.  
  
“I told you, and once she gets that information, she’s going to run back to the Horde.” _That must be the princess._  
  
“I can hear you—", Catra’s voice yells, but cuts short. "There’s... I’m losing it.“  
  
Scorpia sneaks back out and breathes heavily, trying to process what she just saw. Shadow Weaver is using her shadows to manipulate Catra. _Even though they’re the enemy... That’s wrong. I need to stop this_. She heads to the cafeteria and gets grey ration bars and brings them back for Adora if she’s not back when she wakes up. Then she heads back to Shadow Weaver’s chambers and knocks on the door. She waits for the door to open and then walks in herself. “I’m busy, Force Captain Scorpia. State your business.”‘  
  
Scorpia walks around, thinking of what she can do to distract Shadow Weaver. “I’m here to pick up reports for the next mission, or whatever assignment”, she says, looking around. She grabs a few folders and pretends to fall, knocking Shadow Weaver to the ground and knocks some of the water from the vanity. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!!!”, she says and reaches over to help the sorceress up. The woman seems surprisingly weak, she doesn’t even reprimand her. She just struggles to regain her posture.  
  
“Begone”, she growls, returning to her vanity. “Before I make you gone.”  
  
Catra’s voice can barely be heard from the water, “It’s Shadow Weaver!! She did this!! She’s been messing with us!!”  
  
Scorpia smiles proudly to herself as she leaves and heads back to her room. She finds Adora still asleep and sits with her, deciding to stay awake for her. She wants to make sure she’s feeling okay enough to breathe. She presses a kiss to her cheek and scooches in behind her in the bed. She listens to her breathing, and it’s normal. She strokes her arm and thinks about how happy or at least how Adora might feel better to know she stopped Shadow Weaver from doing anything worse. “Don’t worry, Adora... I took care of it. Catra and her friends are safe”, she murmurs before she falls asleep, unable to stay awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall let me know how the pacing of this one is?


	6. sweet things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah. It was so hot, so I just let Catra cut it at first. It didn’t work at first, so I got Lonnie to clean it up. It felt pretty great, though. I love it when I get my hair cut”, Adora says, sitting beside Scorpia. “So you said you have news?”
> 
> Now the woman grins and pulls out a scroll. “I got an invitation for Princess Prom!!!”, she says giddily. Scorpia opens it over their laps to let Adora look at it. Adora blinks, raising an eyebrow at it, then to Scorpia. “It’s a gathering of people. Princesses and whoever they bring with their plus one.”
> 
> Adora tilts her head, “You’re a princess?”
> 
> Scorpia looks around and then notices Adora is serious. “O-Oh, you aren’t kidding. I’m a princess. The Black Garnet was given to the Horde by my family when we joined them. Didn’t you go to Force Captain orientation?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one is about half the size or a third. I just wanted to do some little sweet interactions to set some things up that I don't even know about yet. I don't really think when I write

“Scorpia? What’s a sun?”, Adora asks, looking back at Scorpia. The two of them are kicking the punching bag in one of the training rooms. Punching it and kicking it back and forth, working on combos with each other. Occasionally, Adora will raise a leg for Scorpia to grab, spin her around and whirl her at the big punching back so she can be used as a weapon to their ‘enemy.  
  
Scorpia stops and pants heavily, leaning on the bag now. “Uh.. My parents told me about them when I was little. They’re... I think they said they were stars.”  
  
Adora goes over to her and leans against the bag, too. “Okay, then what are stars?”  
  
“It’s something bright and beautiful... They would light the sky and keep us safe. The sun was apparently the biggest star that brought us night and day. I guess we adjusted or something. That’s what I learned from my parents and what they learned from their parents and so on”, Scorpia explains, trying to figure out the answer herself. She sighs softly, frowning at how she wishes it was something she could’ve seen.  
  
Adora sits down and lets herself calm down. “It was probably beautiful”, she murmurs, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
Scorpia watches her before sitting down beside her, “That’s, uh... That’s why I started calling you sunshine... I feel like you would be the sun, and you kinda... Shine in my life, you know? There’s something about you that I feel shines.”  
  
“That.. Wow”, Adora says, looking to Scorpia. “I like it. I don’t really understand what you see in me, but you said it really pretty.” At that, she receives a gentle pincer run through her hair and she smiles. She sighs softly, enjoying that immensely. She leans up and presses her lips to her cheek, feeling comfortable expressing that kind of affection now since it’s theirs. “You’re pretty great yourself”, she murmurs before laying back down. “You didn’t have to go as far as saving Catra and her friends from Shadow Weaver...”  
  
“I wanted to, though. You... She’s important to you. I couldn’t just let her suffer, then you would be suffering even more. Even if she tried to kidnap you”, Scorpia responds, shrugging. She looks up to the ceiling, thinking about Catra. She wonders if she’s really as nice as Adora. _Maybe she’s just lashing out because they’re enemies now._ Adora’s hand reaches out for her knee. “Hm?”  
  
Adora gives her a squeeze, “You okay? Look like you’re thinkin’ pretty hard there.” She moves so she can rest her head in Scorpia’s lap. “You are great, you aren’t doubting that, are you?” She worries from remembering how Catra is. She’s come to worry for everyone she sees making a face that has them in deep thought. She never wants anyone she cares herself to doubt themselves, everyone she’s met is amazing. Except the rebels, of course.  
  
Scorpia smiles and shakes her head, “Oh, I know. I’m not, I’m just thinking about your friend. I wish I’d known you two sooner.” She leans down and kisses Adora’s forehead, tenderly pressing her lips to it. “Come on, let’s go clean up before we miss ration time.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“Your majesty, I have information for you about the Horde. Well, it’s not scouting or anything, it’s...personal information”, Catra says upon entering the throne room. She doesn’t look up, nervously avoiding eye contact from her new authority figure. She lets out a shaky breath before trying a glance, meeting a friendly face. It catches her by surprise, causing her to pick her head up to the Queen.  
  
Queen Angella gestures for her to come forward, warmly welcoming her before her. “Ah yes, Princess C’yra—", she starts.  
  
Catra coughs, rubbing her neck as she feels uncomfortable with the title and that name. It can’t be her, what kind of name is that anyways? “Actually, your majesty, if you don’t mind... Could you just call me Catra?”  
  
“Yes, as you wish, Catra. Now you wish to speak with me about something? What kind of information do you have for me?” Angella stands from her throne and glides with her wings down to meet Catra. She wants to give her a feeling of safety, because she _is_ safe here. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you tell me about your life there if you don’t mind? I haven’t really gotten any information of you. I just know they plan to take the world as we know it.”  
  
Catra nods slowly, looking down as she frowns. She didn’t think she would have to be talking about herself. “You’re, uh.. You sure you want to know about me? It’s not exactly a pretty picture”, says, glancing up to her. “And I don’t want to say anything wrong...”  
  
Queen Angella blinks, raising an eyebrow. “What could you say that would be wrong? It’s your life, your experiences... The only thing that’s wrong is not knowing the other person’s intentions, so we have to guess. Your experiences are true.” She frowns and places a hand on the magicat’s shoulder. “You’re safe here, Catra. I would fight for you, and everyone here tooth and nail, with all my power.”  
  
Catra steps back, uncomfortable by the touch at first. She flusters, unsure what to say. No one of authority, or rather the person of authority in her life never cared for her ever. She isn’t sure what that could mean, if the Queen is playing games with her or if she is serious. However, she feels... She feels like she can trust her. She feels safer. She shakes her head, sniffling as she feels the familiar stinging in her eyes.  
  
She looks upon Catra sadly, wanting to offer her comfort. Angella doesn’t want to make her more uncomfortable, though. Instead of reaching out, she gently turns and steps forward to Catra, using her wings to wrap around her gently. She and her daughter would usually do this, they called it a wug, dubbed for a wing hug. She murmurs softly, “There there... There you are... I take it that you weren’t safe? That... That you were...”  
  
Catra nods, a choked sob escaping her lips as she accepts the wing hug. “N-Not safe”, she confirms. “It hurt— It hurts.” At that, she feels arms gently wrap around her and she clutches the Queen for comfort. She lets herself break, crying on Queen Angella’s shoulder as she is held tighter. She feels herself being guided to what she assumes is a private room. “A-Are you putting me in prison again?”  
  
“No”, Angella says with a scoff. “This is one of our spare rooms... Why don’t you take it? Instead of sleeping in random places outside?” She turns the lights on and shows it to Catra. “You can make it however you want. Give you more control over your life. What do you say? You won’t have to worry about being found by the Horde or any danger.”  
  
“But.. Wait, anything? Can I put a big tree in the middle and some vines and stuff?”, she asks, pulling away so she can wipe her eyes.  
  
Angella nods, looking at the furniture. “If you want, you could even make this kind of a little courtyard area, but as your room. We could bring in soil and grow some grass to plant the big tree. It might need a little moat or waterfall to keep it growing and alive. I’d imagine you don’t like rain?” She lets out a small laugh when Catra immediately starts shaking her head.  
  
Catra puts her hands behind her back, looking up at Queen Angella. “....Thank you, your majesty. This helps a lot. It’s nice to have a place for me. A place I can have that’s the way I want. Feels like home, maybe.”  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
“Adora!!”, Scorpia calls, knocking on the Force Captain’s door. She is practically vibrating with excitement, letting herself into the room. She hears the shower on and sits down on the bed as she waits. When it turns off, she speaks again. “Adora! I’m in here, just wanted to let you know. I have some exciting news!!!”  
  
Adora smiles as she wraps a towel around herself and dries off. She wrings out her hair and pulls on her long sleeve muscle shirt and the pants. She goes over to Scorpia, leaving her hair down for a bit to give her head some rest. She blushes when Scorpia smiles and stares at her for a moment, “What is it?”  
  
Scorpia then blushes herself, acting as if she has been caught. “You just— You look pretty with your hair down, too.” She reaches out and runs her pincer through it, seeing the undercut. “You would usually have thick hair, huh?”  
  
“Yeah. It was so hot, so I just let Catra cut it at first. It didn’t work at first, so I got Lonnie to clean it up. It felt pretty great, though. I love it when I get my hair cut”, Adora says, sitting beside Scorpia. “So you said you have news?”  
  
Now the woman grins and pulls out a scroll. “I got an invitation for Princess Prom!!!”, she says giddily. Scorpia opens it over their laps to let Adora look at it. Adora blinks, raising an eyebrow at it, then to Scorpia. “It’s a gathering of people. Princesses and whoever they bring with their plus one.”  
  
Adora tilts her head, “You’re a princess?”  
  
Scorpia looks around and then notices Adora is serious. “O-Oh, you aren’t kidding. I’m a princess. The Black Garnet was given to the Horde by my family when we joined them. Didn’t you go to Force Captain orientation?”  
  
“...No, I never got around to doing it... Why are you excited for that, though? Do you know anyone?”, Adora asks, rubbing her neck.  
  
Scorpia shakes her head and gets a cute little smile on her face. “Well.. Usually, I never go. I don’t know anyone there and they aren’t very welcoming of me since my family is with the Horde. Things are different now, though.. I have someone I want to go with.” She gently takes Adora’s hand in one of her pincers and gives it a squeeze. “Would you want to go with me?”  
  
Adora’s eyes widen and she opens her mouth to speak, then closes it. She isn’t sure what to think, so she smiles. “Uh... I don’t know, I’ve never really done anything like that.”  
  
“Oh come on, Adora, it’d be great. You might get to talk to Catra without it turning into a Horde vs Rebellion kind of thing. It’s a neutral place and event, I think it would be great for you”, Scorpia pleads, giving her a soft pout. “Pleaaaaase?” After a moment she sees Adora’s eyes soften and she knows she’s won. “Yaaay!!!” Scorpia hugs her tightly and grins widely. “I’m so happy!! We’re going to have so much fun!!! We can pick out our clothes together and coordinate!!!”  
  
Scorpia’s excitement gets to Adora and she starts to feel excited too, hugging her back. “With you, it’ll probably be fun, whatever this is. Do you mind if I hold onto the scroll so I can, uh... Go over everything? Make sure I don’t mess up or anything?”, Adora asks, pulling back to arms link so she can look to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> might add to this, or just let this be a smaller chapter and try to flesh out the prom chapter


	7. no malice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra looks at Glimmer, offended that she called it kidnapping. She scoffs, “It wasn’t kidnapping!! It was rescuing. I was trying to save her from the Horde.” When Glimmer puts her hands on her hips, she does it back until reluctantly sighing. “Alright, maybe I was kidnapping her a little bit. She’ll be safer with us, though.”
> 
> Glimmer places a hand on Catra’s back and rubs gently, trying to give her some comfort. “Hey... Maybe you’re right. Maybe you’re wrong. We won’t know until we go and find out. To go and find out, we need to get you into some nice clothes... And none of the dresses are working...”
> 
> Catra frowns, looking down at the ground. “I’ll wear a suit. With a bowtie. I want to wear certain colors, though...”, she offers, blushing a bit. “I want to wear something that’s close to red that would compliment it...” She knows for that if Adora is there, she will be wearing red. Maybe wearing something to go with her dress would show her that she’s still... She still wants her by her side. She still wants to protect her from Shadow Weaver as she always has, but it’s probably too late for that now... She probably knows things now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be a 2 parter I guess!

Scorpia backs into her room, holding a couple boxes in her arms. She is trying to be sneaky, wanting to surprise Adora. When she turns, she yelps as she sees Adora has covered half the room in papers, a diagram, strings and pins. She almost throws the boxes in the air, quickly having to juggle them onto her bed so she doesn’t lose them. “A-Adora? Hiiii”, she says slowly as she watches her pace and mumble to herself in words she can’t understand. She moves from the bed and goes to her, but keeps out of her path. “Sunshine?” Scorpia reaches out and grabs the collar of Adora’s jacket, lifting her up off the ground. “Sweety?”  
  
“Hm?”, she questions when she realizes her feet aren’t touching the floor. She looks to Scorpia and smiles. “Oh, you’re back. Can you help me with some of this?”  
  
Scorpia watches as Adora gestures behind her and looks over her shoulder. “Uhh, sure... Sure! One question, though. What is all this?” She lets Adora back on the ground and smiles as her pincer is tugged on, the woman leading her to her bunch of mess.  
  
Adora pulls down the scroll, having hoisted it up so she can read it in its entirety. “Can you help me figure out this.. curtsy depth? I don’t—”, she snorts, pointing at it. “What’s a ‘curtsy’. Is it a smaller curt?” She moves her finger down, “And this... stair descending etiquette. What, do I have to learn how to walk fancy on the stairs??” She scoffs and shakes her head. She sighs and her face goes straight, “I don’t know what anything of this means.”  
  
“Heyyy, heyyy, don’t worry....”, Scorpia murmurs, cupping her face and hugging it to her chest. “I’ve been to one, I can show you everything I know.” She looks at Adora, giving her a smile to comfort and assure her. “We’ll make sure we’re doing this right. They’ll see how great and fun I can be.”  
  
Adora frowns, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean they’ll see? They— How could they not like you?”  
  
Scorpia looks down at their pincers when she grabs her tail, holding it. “They think I’d... I guess they think I’d hurt them. That I’m too dangerous....” She frowns, her body always being something that caused people fear. Something that keeps people away, at arms length, judging her immediately. She hugs herself, but tries to smile when she sees Adora looking sadly to her, not wanting her to worry. “It’s okay!”  
  
“No it’s not. They shouldn’t be treating you like that!!! That’s just being mean...”, Adora says back, cupping Scorpia’s face. She presses her forehead gently against Scorpia’s and rubs a thumb against her cheek. She suddenly gets a nagging feeling that she should be thinking this about how Shadow Weaver treats her and Catra. _That’s different, though... We’re just being disciplined... She does this out of care_. Adora smiles gently and takes hold of the little horns or antenna from her suit that are over her cheeks and presses a kiss to Scorpia’s cute nose. “We’ll just show them they’re wrong and they shouldn’t exclude you. The scroll said something about being on neutral ground, too, so...”  
  
Scorpia blinks, blushing as her nose is kissed. “Aww, sunshine”, she murmurs. She smiles sheepishly, pulling Adora into a big hug. “It doesn’t help that the last one I went to, I was alone. Now that we’re going together, they might think better of me.” She presses a kiss back on Adora’s forehead and grins. “I got us a couple dresses. Do you feel ready to do some of that? It helps with the curtsy, since you’ll be doing that in a dress. Or a....suuuuuuuuuiiit?”, she asks, unsure.  
  
Adora nods, “A dress. What did you find me?”, she asks. She lets herself be lead to the bed and is given a box that has her size numbers on it. She opens it and pulls out, holding it up in front of her. “Oh wow... You know me so well. It’s red!!” Adora beams at Scorpia, now wondering what she’s picked out for herself.  
  
The princess takes her box and smiles sheepishly. “How about I just go ahead and get ready while you get ready out here?”, she asks, starting to bite her lip. She turns around and carefully steps around Adora’s mess of plans. She yelps as she backs into a table that has little battle figurines on it. “Adora, really?” She looks up to her softly and shakes her head playfully. "You didn’t have to do all this..“ Adora smiles sheepishly, rubbing her neck in response. ”It’s okay, I understand it helps you plan out your schedule and all.“ She gives her a wink before disappearing into the bathroom.   
  
Adora lets out a sigh of relief and looks at the said dress, pouting in confusion. She has heard of them, but isn’t really sure what to think of it. She doesn’t feel like she could do a suit, though... She’s going to have a soft evening with Scorpia, around lots of other people, having fun and eating, talking.... Something compels her to want to let down her defenses and just enjoy being with Scorpia tonight. She undresses and pulls the dress over her head. She then fixes her hair some, suddenly unsure what to do. She looks down at her high top boots and frowns, they don’t match with her dress. She turns back to the box and finds some that look nice, so she switches them out. It takes a few minutes for her to get the shoes to work right, but she sure feels a lot better about them when she’s done. “Scorpia? I think I’m looking proper for the ball.”  
  
“Uhh, alright! I’ll come help you in a minute, I’m almost done!!”, Scorpia calls from the bathroom. She brushes her hair back some, trying to use some gel to give it a reason to stay put. She then puts on her lipstick, both lips this time. Finally, she puts on a couple earrings that look like the Black Garnet, seeing as it used to be her family’s responsibility. She grans a necklace from the box that matches her earrings, but doesn’t put it on. She holds it in her pincer and hides it behind her back as she comes out. She steps out of the bathroom wordlessly, looking shy as she waits for Adora to notice her in her low cut deep black dress with red on the inside of it, shown from the slit that goes up to her thigh.   
  
When Adora looks to the footsteps, her eyes widen and she is speechless. Her jaw drops a bit and she just stares as she walks forward. She reaches out to her, grasping for the pincer that wasn’t behind her back and looks up and down at Scorpia. This makes the princess blush and she sputters a bit, looking away. “Wow....”, Adora whispers, looking at Scorpia’s arms and shoulders, too. “You look amazing, I’m— Wow—" Her eyes appear to sparkle as she holds her arms and looks over her again.   
  
Scorpia giggles, playfully brushing Adora off. “Oh, come on, look at you!”, she tries to deflect. She takes one of Adora’s hands and lifts it up slowly, guiding her into a dance. She twirls her into her body and holds her there for a minute. “I know the perfect thing to finish...” Her voice is a soft murmur as she sneaks out the necklace in her other pincer and gently places it around Adora’s neck. She hooks it behind her neck and lets the pendant hand on Adora’s clavicle. “Perfect.”  
  
Adora looks down at the necklace Scorpia has placed around her and looks back to Scorpia. She recognizes that the pendant on it matches Scorpia’s earrings and she looks to her so tenderly. She reaches behind Scorpia’s head and brings them together. “S-Scorpia.. I don’t know what to say...”  
  
“Just... Say you’ll remember me when you talk to Catra. You’ll remember what I said and not let her get to you”, Scorpia murmurs softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She then presses her cheek against Adora’s and holds her in her arms for a few minutes. “I just don’t want you to feel alone, even though you need to talk to her alone. You made a plan for that battle, right?”  
  
Adora blinks, paling a bit as she looks back at Scorpia with a frown. “I was so caught up on making sure I don’t embarrass you or myself and that we have fun at the ball, I completely forgot about Catra.” She feels the arms squeeze around her tighter and feels calmer from that. “I don’t know what— I still need to curtsy.“  
  
Scorpia nods and lets go of Adora to stand around in front of her. “Okay, this is how it’s going to go. You walk up the steps and pause. Then you take the edge of your dress, cross your legs a bit and lower yourself on them a bit.” She tries to demonstrate, but her dress isn’t really the type to allow her to do such. She then just bends over some instead, “You you can just bow for about three seconds.” Adora moves beside her and copies her, and stands upright in sync with her. Scorpia nods and has her do it a couple more times. Once they feel confident that they’ve got everything taken care of, Adora reaches to take Scorpia’s arm.  
  
“How are we going?”, Adora asks, looking up to her as they leave Scorpia’s room.   
  
Scorpia blushes a bit at the contact, smiling at her. “I figured we could just fly there in a jet since it’s in the Kingdom of Snows”, she says as she leads her to the hangar.   
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“I am not wearing that, Glimmer!!!”, Catra yells at the princess as she dodges an attempt to put a tacky, poofy dress on her. She climbs through the branches of her tree in her room, forgetting Glimmer can teleport. “Stay away from me!! I’m not— I don’t do dresses!! Especially ugly ones!!”  
  
Glimmer presses hand to her forehead and sighs, “Well, Catra. If you want to see Adora at the ball, you’ll have to wear something nice.” She drops the dress and pulls at her own hair as she lets out a long groan.   
  
Catra huffs, sticking her tongue out at at Glimmer. “How do you even know she’s going to be at this ball?? What evidence do you have?”, she challenges, narrowing her eyes.  
  
“It’s been said that princess Scorpia is not going alone, and I’d say it’s a fair bet that it’s Adora”, Glimmer says before teleporting up beside Catra. She sits with her and puts a hand on her shoulder. “She probably wants to see you, too... I mean, don’t you two have a lot to talk about? You tried to kidnap her.... Twice.”  
  
Catra looks at Glimmer, offended that she called it kidnapping. She scoffs, “It wasn’t kidnapping!! It was rescuing. I was trying to save her from the Horde.” When Glimmer puts her hands on her hips, she does it back until reluctantly sighing. “Alright, maybe I was kidnapping her a little bit. She’ll be safer with us, though.”  
  
Glimmer places a hand on Catra’s back and rubs gently, trying to give her some comfort. “Hey... Maybe you’re right. Maybe you’re wrong. We won’t know until we go and find out. To go and find out, we need to get you into some nice clothes... And none of the dresses are working...”  
  
Catra frowns, looking down at the ground. “I’ll wear a suit. With a bowtie. I want to wear certain colors, though...”, she offers, blushing a bit. “I want to wear something that’s close to red that would compliment it...” She knows for that if Adora is there, she will be wearing red. Maybe wearing something to go with her dress would show her that she’s still... She still wants her by her side. She still wants to protect her from Shadow Weaver as she always has, _but it’s probably too late for that now... She probably knows things now..._  
  
“That sounds more like you. You aren’t a dress person, huh?”, she asks, raising an eyebrow to Catra. Glimmer then stands and stretches. “Alright, I’ll help you do something with your hair, alright? Just find me when you get the suit. I’ll try to stick around in my room for the next few hours before we go.” With that, the princess disappears in a dust of sparkle particles. They make Catra sneeze and she huffs, shaking her head.   
  
When Catra does come to Glimmer later, she’s pulling on her suit’s jacket. She’s dressed in a dress shirt she could only name as the color b8024c, as that’s how they learned of colors that were not primary or secondary. It was more efficient that way, anyways. Her suit’s color is in 3a001f with a black bowtie that’s undone to pull it all together. _It will look well with whatever red thing Adora’s gonna wear_, which is the only reason she’s going to the prom. She looks up at Glimmer’s bed, “Glimmer? Uh, I don’t think I need anything done to my hair, but I have a better idea. Why don’t we wear something that coordinates with each other since Bow is going to the prom with Perfuma?”  
  
Glimmer teleports in front of her, rubbing her arm at the idea. “It’s okay, Catra.. Thank you, though. It’s just a thing Bow and I do. It’s _our_ thing...”, she says, looking away with a sad smile.   
  
“Uh, alright”, Catra says, eyes narrowing. _Of course not. I’m not good enough to do something fun like that with. Will I ever be a good enough friend? _Glimmer takes Catra’s arm gently and starts leading her to their ride to the prom.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
As soon as Glimmer and Catra arrive, Glimmer is searching the crowd for Bow with her eyes. She doesn’t pay attention to Catra trying to distract her, trying to get her to even tell her what they’re supposed to do. Her tail curls somewhat at the tip, feeling unsure if she’s actually Glimmer’s friend or not. She’s trying to be friendly, but she’s just getting ignored. Catra sighs, crossing her arms as she looks around for Adora. Instead, she actually spots Bow arriving with Perfuma and they look like they’re having fun talking about whatever. She elbows Glimmer a little roughly and points the two out for her. Glimmer waits for them to come over, putting an arm around Catra’s shoulder with a fake laugh. Catra’s tail swishes in annoyance, not liking this situation one bit. _The hell is wrong with her?? We agreed Bow would go with Perfuma so I could go as your plus one and we could hang out while we waited for Adora!! Why are you being like this??_  
  
“Oh, Bow! I didn’t see you there, Catra was just telling me the funniest thing!!”, Glimmer says, sounding so fake Catra feels sick.   
  
Perfuma is grinning at them both, but she keeps glancing at Catra. Her cheeks flush lightly when their eyes meet and she waves, “Catra and Glimmer!! I’m so glad to see you. Have either of you found her friend yet?”   
  
Catra raises an eyebrow at Perfuma’s expression, quickly smirking as she realizes the princess must like her outfit. “Nice to see you, too, P. No, _I_ haven’t seen her.” _At least someone remembers why we did this and cares. _She notices how Bow and Perfuma are both doing a small matching thing with flowers and remembers Perfuma can make flowers appear. "Hey, can you make me a flower too? Since we’re a group and all? I kind of feel like I’m missing something....", she feigns innocence, but maybe this will show Glimmer that they can all hang out together. That nothing is exclusive and nothing has changed.  
  
“Really?? Of course!!” Perfuma seems excited to make a flower for Catra, having thought she didn’t like them. She makes her a flower on her jacket that is similar to hers and Bow’s. She then makes one for Glimmer.  
  
Glimmer blinks, touching the flower in her hair and then looking to the trio in front of her. Her eyes soften and she nods to Catra, mouthing a thank you and an apology. She smiles and walks forward to join them.  
  
“So I was thinking, maybe we can change it up. I’ll hang out with Perfuma and you hang out with Bow?”, Catra says, gesturing amongst them. “I don’t really know Perfuma, so we can do that while we wait for Adora to show up... If she does.”  
  
Perfuma immediately lights up with a gasp, “Oooo, I like that!! That’s totally doable!!” When Catra offers her arm, Perfuma takes it the two go to the buffet table that’s been set out.   
  
Catra looks at it, hungry but unsure. She also feels nervous being around Perfuma, but she can’t show that. She has to appear friendly, calm and collected. If she can keep that up, maybe Adora will want to stay with her instead of leave with Scorpia. All the times before, she’s come at her aggressive. Maybe she can try something different. “Uh... I don’t know what to eat...”  
  
“Why don’t we try some stuff together? That would be fun”, Perfuma offers as she starts making a plate. “We both make a plate and— Catra?” In the middle of her talking, Catra stopped and is staring at something. “Oh, is that her?”  
  
Sure enough, princess Scorpia is stepping down the steps with Adora that lead to princess Frosta. Adora’s arm is around Scorpia’s, holding on a little tight. She’s fairly close to her as well, and she is smiling. Her hair is down, something she’s only ever seen during cleansing time and barely at that. Catra’s tail twitches, almost like it’s vibrating as she’s overcome with happiness at seeing the other unharmed from their last fight. She is wearing a red dress, which compliments her own suit— _Is she wearing a necklace_? Her heart sinks as she notices that it matches Scorpia’s earrings. She brings herself to look away and turns to Perfuma. “You were saying?”, she asks, teeth gritting together.  
  
Perfuma frowns and places a hand on her shoulder, “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Her voice is sweet and gently, trying to take care of whatever Catra is feeling. She barely knows her, but she can tell the other feels so strongly.   
  
“No. I'm fine. What were you saying?”, her voice sounds harsh, she's trying so hard to keep her mind away from Adora. _Why is she wearing that necklace? Why is she on Scorpia's arm like that? Why are they so close? That could be us, that should be us!!!_ Her tail is stiff now, angry with herself for failing the objective of keeping her mind off Adora. She watches as they both go to a buffet table and start stuffing themselves. More so Adora, though, who doesn't know what any of this food is and has never seen or tasted it before.   
  
Perfuma lets out a small giggle, “She's really enjoying the food. Why don't we see if we can find Entrapta?” She gently tugs Catra away when she spots the other princess on one of the ice pillars. Catra's feet drag at first, but she eventually walks with her.   
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Scorpia stops when she’s feeling full, looking over to Adora. She gently grabs her hand, “Whoa there sunshine. If you eat too much of this stuff, your stomach might get upset since you’re not used to this food.”   
  
Adora blinks at her, cheeks full of food. She swallows it and wipes her mouth with a nod. “Sorry. sorry... It’s just so good, I can’t believe I’ve never eaten any of this!”, she says with a grin. Scorpia laughs and grabs a napkin, getting a missing smudge of food from Adora’s cheek. Adora blushes, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry..”  
  
“You apologize too much”, Scorpia says as she takes Adora from the buffet table. She gives her a smile as she decides to just walk around with her. “Okay. Have you figured anything out for what you’re going to say to Catra?” She takes her hand in her pincers gently, giving it a squeeze. “I know you might want me to be there for it, but it would probably be best if you two just talk this out together. Unless she has someone with her, then I’ll definitely be by your side.”  
  
Adora bites her lip, looking around. “I... I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what she’s going to say. Okay, well I do actually.. I’ll ask her to come back. She’ll say no. She’ll get mad...—"  
  
**L̴̜͍̠͍̱͎͙̾̓̀̏è̶̡̩̪͙̘̼̠̰̻̬̲̥̮̕ͅţ̴̢̼̬͙͈̳̠̪̺̬̘̤̹̠̺̤͆̓̈́̽̂̿ ̴̬̟͙̲͈͖̻̝̪̝̞͛͑̓̀̿̽͠ͅg̴͈̩̠̹͚̼̱͓̈̔̿̈́̀͂͑͜͝ỏ̴̢̗̯̜̞̖̙̖͈̖̥̮͈̝̫͐̑̓̋̇̓̋̅̈́̑̈́̈́͊̕͘**  
  
  
  
“Adora? Adora, what’s wrong?", Scorpia’s worried voice comes over her deafening fear. Adora looks around frantically, trying to see Shadow Weaver or the source of the other voice. "You went really pale for a minute there." When Adora looks back at her and relaxes, Scorpia relaxes as well. "Oh good, you’re okay...“  
  
Adora slowly nods, still looking unsure. “Yeah.. I just thought I heard someone say something to me. Well, two people actually... I think one is a person? The other person sounded like Shadow Weaver... I think it was just my imagination, though.”  
  
Scorpia frowns, cupping Adora’s face gently. “It’s okay, I don’t think she’s here. She would’ve been noticed by now and kicked out since she’s not invited.” Part of that is for herself, since she’s seen what Shadow Weaver can do without actually being at places. She gives her a small, reassuring smile and presses a kiss on Adora’s forehead.   
  
Adora smiles and hugs Scorpia, “Thank you... It’s like you always know what to say.” She presses a kiss to her cheek before glancing to her lips. Her heart beats harder for a moment as she thinks of pressing a kiss there. She looks away and places her hands on her own hips. “Okay, I think I know what I’ll say. I’m not going to ask her to come back. I’ll just...talk about how things are. Try not to say anything to provoke her.”  
  
“That-That’s a good plan”, Scorpia says, having noticed Adora’s eyes glance down and she pretends not to. “Where would you like to meet up afterwards?”  
  
Adora shrugs, “We’ll just find each other. I don’t think it’ll be that hard to find such a pretty girl in a crowd of strangers.” She winks at Scorpia before leaving, disappearing in the crowd as she tries to find Catra. There isn’t really anywhere for her to hide, except behind a pillar maybe and other people. She occasionally can see what she thinks is her tail weaving through people, so she follows it. The lights suddenly go somewhat dark and she is startled. A crowd of people push her to the middle of the room, where the dance will commit. She looks around panicked, unsure what’s happening. When she realizes people are pairing up, she frowns. When she turns around, she sees a familiar hand extended out to her. Her heart stops at the sight of Catra, clad in her suit that oddly enough, kind of goes well with her own dress.   
  
Catra smirks, raising an eyebrow to ask if she will take her hand. She doesn’t expect to see Adora smile as she does take it. “Aww, you never wear your hair down for me”, she chides playfully.  
  
Adora finds herself chuckling softly, genuinely amused like old times. “You never asked. Also, I’ve been looking for you everywhere...”  
  
“I know. I decided to play the mouse this time. Did you have fun prowling about as the cat?”, Catra asks as their bodies move to the rigid instructions from the invitations. Their hands are on each other’s hips now, as they used to be. She notices Adora blushing and doesn’t understand why. They’ve touched each other’s hips before.  
  
“No, actually.. I’m not as agile as you, so I wasn’t even sure if I was following you or not, but I had a feeling”, Adora says, gulping after a moment. The two twirl around each other, looking into each other’s eyes. “How are things going for you? You said you had something to tell me that first time.”  
  
Catra shrugs, “It's going better than it would be in the Horde. I feel like I'm wanted here. There. Whatever. Why do you care?”  
  
Adora frowns, “Because I care about you, Catra. I never stopped caring.” Catra blinks at that, having not expected to hear her say that. She assumed that when she left the Horde, she’d be dead to Adora. Especially after she hurt her on that ship. She smiles a bit at her, which causes Adora to smile before they twirl away from each other. She now meets face to face with Glimmer, and they both scowl at each other.   
  
“Horde soldier”, Glimmer says with a huff as they touch hands.  
  
Adora narrows her eyes, “Princess.” She raises their hands so she can twirl her, biting the inside of her cheek.  
  
Glimmer twirls under her arm, “What do you think you’re doing here?”  
  
“If you must know, Scorpia feels unwelcome by the princesses. She feels like they don’t like her, and think she’s dangerous when she’s really kind and soft and we’re— I’ve been struggling with something recently, so we decided to come, have fun and show everyone how great and fun and gentle she is. I also came to talk to Catra. I’m not here to fight, princess.” Adora’s voice is plain, but there’s a softness to it.   
  
Glimmer certainly wasn’t expecting to get all this. She blinks when they come face to face and touch hands again. Before she can speak, they are twirling away from each other and she meets up with Sea Hawk.  
  
When Adora spins away, she meets up with Scorpia. She grins, “Scorpia, I didn’t think you’d— I’m so glad it’s you.”  
  
Scorpia smiles as she lifts Adora up on her shoulder, looking up at her in awe. “How is it going with Catra? Neither of you looked mad, so it must be going well?”, she asks hopefully as she slowly twirls them around.   
  
  
“It’s actually going pretty good. I ran into that princess... Glimmer! I ran into princess Glimmer, though”, she says. “She demanded to know why I’m— Well, why we’re here. I was honest. If I lied, it probably wouldn’t be good.”  
Adora smiles as she is gently let down. Scorpia sneaks a kiss on Adora’s cheek to say ‘that’s great’ before they twirl away again. She comes back to Perfuma, and then to Entrapta. When she saw her by herself, she’d decided to talk to her and invited her to dance so she’d feel welcome, too.  
  
Glimmer meets Adora again, thinking about what she said before. “Wow. You’re a pretty nice friend”, she says, sounding surprised. “Maybe you aren’t so bad.”  
  
Adora frowns, “I try to be. Why would you think I’m not?”  
  
“Because, you’re on the wrong side of a war and you won’t listen to your friend!!”, she kind of yells at her. Glimmer glares at her until realizing Adora is confused. “What?”  
  
“A war? There’s not a war going on, we’re just— We’re just fighting...”, Adora says, feeling unsure.   
  
Glimmer blinks and opens her mouth to speak, but before she can get a word out, the two of them have to twirl away from each other again.   
  
Adora looks back at Glimmer when they leave each other and she catches Catra in her arms. She instinctively has a hand on Catra’s shoulder, who places her own over it and is looking pretty smug now. “You said you care about me?”  
  
“What?—", Adora asks, trying to remember her and Catra’s conversation. "Of course I do. Just like how you didn’t stop caring about me."   
  
A low purr stirs in Catra’s chest and she pulls away, only to turn Adora and dip her. Her hands gently hold Adora at the small of her back while Adora’s are almost around her neck and shoulders. Adora’s leg is between hers an Catra feels pretty proud of herself at the look of surprise on Adora’s face. “Can we talk about this more after the dance? Alone?”  
  
Adora looks up at Catra, just in time for her to fling her out by her arm. She looks at her now, unsure what to say. She feels herself breathing quicker, but she nods. _This is going to be a long talk._  
  
  



	8. a bright future?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora decides to thank Shadow Weaver for allowing her to go to the prom with Scorpia, so she visits her chambers once she’s cleaned herself up and changed. She knocks on her door, clearing her throat. “Shadow Weaver? Um.. Can I talk to you about something?”
> 
> Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes at her door, before casting her shadows behind her to make the room appear dark. She opens the door by punching in digits on the keypad and looks down at her. “My darling Adora has returned. Did you enjoy yourself?”, she feigns interest.
> 
> “..Actually, I had a lot of fun. I wanted to come and thank you for letting me go”, Adora says with a smile. “I also wanted to ask if we were... at war?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe unfinished, maybe not. It's a little short so looking for some feedback please? Like, pacing wise and length.  
Also sorry it's been about 2 weeks! my spanish class is extremely hectic

“Hey, Adora..”, Catra coos from the balcony of the palace. She’d been waiting for Adora after their dance, as they agreed to talk. This is where they decided to have their little talk. Her tail twitches, revealing how happy she is to see Adora and much to her annoyance. She wanted to play it cool, and she knows Adora has learned most of her ear and tail language. “I didn’t expect you to be wearing a dress, I must say.” _Also didn’t expect you to be on _her_ arm when you got here._  
  
Adora smiles at the familiarity before walking over to her. She leans against the railing of the balcony, thinking about how they always end up at a place like this to be alone. It’s just colder and safer here than it was in the Horde on their scout ledge. “It was the easiest thing I could pick out. If I wanted to, I’d spend forever picking out a shirt and a suit to match.” She reaches out and gently grabs Catra’s jacket. She pulls her closer with a smile, “And I’d spend forever trying to figure out what to do with this..” She gently takes the undone bowtie and tries to figure out how to tie it.  
  
Catra’s face flushes as Adora pulls her closer, and then gets closer still. She holds her head back, unsure what she’s reaching for before realizing it was her bowtie. She gently swats Adora’s hand away with a huff, “I _wanted_ it to be like that.”  
  
“Yeah, okay. I know you don’t half ass something like this”, she murmurs, letting go of it. “It looks... It looks good on you. It almost matches my dress...”  
  
Catra swallows, ears pressing back against her skull as she debates whether or not to say it’s supposed to. _Adora can’t be that dumb... She knows I wanted to._  
  
Adora puts her hands in front of her and wrings them together. “You don’t have to come back with me”, she says, wanting to state that first, so Catra knows this isn’t about that. She’s not sure if she wants her in the Horde anyways, feeling like it’s selfish of her. “I just— I... You’re important to me, and I can’t deal with the thought of you betraying—“  
  
“Whoa. I didn’t betray anyone. You’re the one who betrayed me, by breaking our promise. I couldn’t stay there after learning what I know! I— I might be something, Adora.” Catra takes Adora’s hands, separating them before she could start picking at her knuckles. “I... I might be a princess. I might be someone.”  
  
Adora doesn’t pull away when Catra says that, instead moving closer. “You’ve always been someone, Catra... You've always been the most important thing in my life.”  
  
Catra huffs, “Not important enough! Adora, this isn’t about you!!” She breathes heavily, trying to settle herself down as she turns away and drops Adora’s hands. “It’s not about you, Adora. I haven’t felt like anything important ever since I can remember.”  
  
_Not enough..._Adora frowns when Catra snaps at her. She backs up for a moment, but then steps forward and grabs Catra’s hand. “Hey... Hey, look at me. I’m not— I just wanted to help. I thought if I told you that, it would help.”  
  
Catra snatches her hand away and hugs herself. “Well, it didn’t. It’s nothing, Adora. I’m not anyone, I’m just...some thing expendable, some meaningless...”  
  
“No you’re not. You’re someone. You’ve always been someone, okay? Maybe you weren’t supposed to know yet”, Adora offers, looking away. She holds her hands in front of her again. “You’re strong and smart. The Rebellion should be lucky to have you...”  
  
Catra chances a glance to Adora, seeing that she’s trying. She sighs and turns to her, “Shut up..”, she mutters and reaches out to take her hands apart again. She feels something stir and she holds Adora’s hands, feeling them squeeze her own. She thinks about what Glimmer said to her before they came, that Adora wants to see her. She bites her lip and leans closer, breathing slowly.  
  
Adora’s eyes soften when Catra holds her hands. She starts to smile when she sees Catra looking more relaxed and then blushes as she moves closer. “Catra?”, she asks quietly, heart beating in her chest.  
  
“Shut up, Adora...”, she says softly and fits her chin on Adora’s shoulder to kiss it. She places kisses up her neck like she used to do, then presses a kiss on her cheek. “I’ve missed you. I wish you’d come with me.”  
  
A soft sigh escapes Adora’s lips, feeling the familiar sensation of Catra’s kisses. Feeling a soft rumble of Catra’s purring against her. “I-I miss you too, Catra. I miss you so much. You know I can’t...” With that, she feels Catra tighten her grip on her hands. She decides to wait to see what Catra will do.  
  
Catra stops her kissing when she notices a familiar mark on Adora’s neck and shoulder. It’s the same mark that shows all over her own body for a few days after Shadow Weaver uses magic on her. Her claws slowly dig into Adora’s wrists and she forces herself to let go. “Sorry..sorry...”, she whispers, burying her face into Adora’s neck. She wraps her arms around her and hugs her tight. _She’s hurting her now, too. _Her claws dig into Adora’s dress and she closes her eyes as tears begin to sting them. Ultimate, she failed as a friend. She failed as a person. She couldn’t keep what’s precious to her safe, the only thing she thought she could do. _If I can’t even keep Adora safe, what _can_ I do?_  
  
Adora hugs Catra back, smiling softly as she presses her face into Catra’s shoulder. She pulls away after a few minutes, but only at arm’s length. She looks into Catra’s eyes, “Will we be okay?”  
  
The words catch Catra off guard, bringing her from her own spiraling thoughts. “O-Oh, what? Of course.. We’ll probably be okay...”, she says as she licks her lips. “Just don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.” _I’ll make sure._  
  
“Okay”, Adora says softly. She smiles before letting go of Catra and standing back. “I guess I’ll see you the next time I see you..” She turns to walk away, going off to find Scorpia.  
  
Scorpia isn’t too far away, dabbing her eyes with a napkin. She looks up to see Adora and immediately smiles. “Oh! Hey!”  
  
Adora frowns and puts a hand on one of Scorpia’s pincers, “Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah!! It was just— so touching seeing you two hug like that! I went by to check on you guys and you were hugging and I’m just— So happy for you. You two made up, right?”, Scorpia says with a grin. When Adora kind of nods, kind of shrugs, she hugs her tightly. “It’s better than fighting!!” She picks her up and presses her cheek against Adora’s. She sets her down after a minute and holds her hand. “Can we have a dance before we leave?”  
  
“Of course”, Adora murmurs and walks with her to where the other couples are. She wraps an arm around Scorpia’s neck as a pincer finds her hip. She moves closer and rests her head on Scorpia’s shoulder. The two sway together slowly, giving Adora an opportunity to speak. “I think we’re okay now. I told her I couldn’t go back with her. She... She seemed okay about it. I’m so glad we could, you know.. Do this without a fight. You were right..”  
  
Scorpia smiles and pulls Adora closer, starting to blush. She snorts a bit, “Well... I guess...”  
  
Adora sighs softly as she rests against Scorpia. “Scorpia.. I think...”, she murmurs, reaching up to the back of her neck. She looks into her eyes softly, almost lovingly. This makes Scorpia blush, and surprises her.  
  
Scorpia’s eyes soften when she realizes what Adora must be getting at. _Adora wants to kiss me. Seriously kiss me, knowing what it means now. _“Adora?” Her voice is soft as she leans closer. She feels herself pulled down by the hand at her neck, and closes her eyes as their foreheads meet. Her voice is ragged, exposing how nervous she is. She wants to be good at this, but she’s never kissed anyone like this before. She can only imagine how good Adora’s kisses are. Scorpia slowly presses her lips against Adora’s, kissing her gently. It doesn’t last long, only a couple seconds as she starts to giggle. “I’m sorry— I just can’t believe I’m kissing Adora..”  
  
Adora blushes now, too. She kisses Scorpia again and then buries her face in her neck. “Why don’t we go home? I’m kind of tired. Well, of this dress. Want to get something to eat first, though?”  
  
“Oh, of course! It’s been pretty good. That flower princess was really nice to me. She even offered to make a flower for me. I wasn’t sure what I liked, though. That princess, uh.. Entrapta! She was really nice, too. I helped her do some stuff for some social experiment. I kinda hope we meet again, actually. She was cool”, she says as they go to the buffet tables again. Together, they eat their hearts out yet again.  
  
“I’m sho gluhd yu had fn”, Adora says with her mouth full. She starts putting some away for later, which prompts Scorpia to do the same, but she also puts them away in Adora’s dress. They giggle and get ready to leave, heading out.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
“Uh, Bow? I can’t find Sparkles...”, Catra says as she walks up to him and Perfuma. “I’m ready to go, since I can’t hang out with Mermista anymore... She had to leave with Sea Hawk since he’s her ride and she can’t just ride home on a wave or something.. You know, after what happened...”  
  
Bow frowns and cups his chin. “I don’t know where she could’ve gone for so long. Alright, I’ll stay and look for her. Perfuma, you mind taking Catra with you? I mean, if that’s alright with you?”  
  
Catra groans with relief, “Please... I’m so cold. And I never say please. Come on, Perfuma.” She goes over to Perfuma and the two leave. Her slight humor was the best way she could show her affection at this point, since she is worried. She doesn’t feel like she’d be able to help, though. Bow knows more about Glimmer and can probably find her in a snap.  
  
Bow decides to check with Princess Frosta first, who he knows Glimmer had been trying to recruit for the alliance. Princess Frosta hasn’t seen her since the dance. “I do remember her saying she wanted to retrieve something, so I allowed her to leave temporarily.”  
  
“And she just never came back?”, Bow asks, starting to frown as Princess Frosta shakes her head. “I’ll go see if she left. Thank you.” Bow leaves the castle to where many modes of transportation from the guests had been stored during the ball. He only sees Glimmer’s ride, and he feels his stomach drop as he notices a flower she’d been wearing crumpled on the ground. _She’s been taken._  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Adora and Scorpia leave the ship, talking about the ball and all the great food. Unfortunately, they ate through what they’d ‘stolen’ on the ride home. Adora has Scorpia’s pincer in hand, swaying a bit as they both blush while heading to one of their rooms. Once the hangar is empty, Shadow Weaver manifests herself from the darkness. She coaxes her shadows to open the door so she may enter the ship. Inside, she finds an unconscious Princess Glimmer, wrapped in her shadowy pets. She uses magic to hover her from the ground and takes her to her chambers, imprisoning her with the Black Garnet. She smirks under her mask, shaking her head. “Oh, sweet, naive Adora... You’re just the pot that keeps on giving..”, she snickers to herself pridefully. She doesn’t care that Glimmer is half awake now, she’s a princess. No one in the Horde will believe a princess.  
  
Adora decides to thank Shadow Weaver for allowing her to go to the prom with Scorpia, so she visits her chambers once she’s cleaned herself up and changed. She knocks on her door, clearing her throat. “Shadow Weaver? Um.. Can I talk to you about something?”  
  
Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes at her door, before casting her shadows behind her to make the room appear dark. She opens the door by punching in digits on the keypad and looks down at her. “My darling Adora has returned. Did you enjoy yourself?”, she feigns interest.  
  
“..Actually, I had a lot of fun. I wanted to come and thank you for letting me go”, Adora says with a smile. “I also wanted to ask if we were... at war?”  
  
Shadows seep through the door, circling around her and Adora. “Who told you that?? What have I told you? Never listen to a—“  
  
Adora steps forward, scowling. “A princess. Yeah, I know. I listened, I listen to you more than you listen to me!! And all those princesses, I met so many princesses!! They were all so nice and friendly to me. They weren’t evil or mean at all. I think you’ve been lying—"  
  
“That’s enough from you, insolent child!!”, Shadow Weaver screams as she stops Adora in place with her magic. She lets the darkness around her fall as she closes the door and brings her to a table. She turns the table so it’s upright and holds her down on it as she buckles her down to it. “I should’ve known better than to let you run around with that mangy feline!! Losing her has warped your mind, made you weak.” She seethes for a moment before releasing her magic hold on Adora and stroking her face. “I only wanted what’s best for you, to make you something instead of the nothing I found you at.”  
  
Adora pants heavily as she is released, looking around the room. She notices a bright red glow and recognizes the person trapped within it who is trying to teleport away. She gasps, “Princess Glimmer?”  
  
The princess heard everything between the two, and now feels more conflicted than before. However, she’s in too much pain to speak. She can barely make out a couple words, a demand. “Let...us...go...”  
  
“Oh, don’t worry. You will be released. After I inform lord Hordak that we have an opportunity to bring down Brightmoon once and for all now that I’ve captured their princess”, the sorceress boasts. “I’ll deal with you when I return.” She moves from Adora and leaves the chambers.


	9. lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brightmoon guards enter the room before Angella does, her eyes tired and fraught with worry. “There you two are...”, she says in relief, before gesturing. However, she stops and places that hand on her face. “The Horde has Glimmer. They’re holding her ransom until tomorrow unless I turn over Brightmoon and myself to them in return for Glimmer’s safety.”
> 
> Catra’s heart aches as she realizes the two had to have been a diversion. She begins to zone out, thinking of how she’s been played and used yet again by Shadow Weaver. However, something still doesn’t add up. Why would Adora do it? “Hey... Catra? Catra, look at me?”, Bow’s voice rings out, bringing her back before she could spiral. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get answers.”

Catra glares at the wall in her room, thinking about what happened at the prom. She holds her chin in her hand with her nails piercing her skin so hard she would bleed. She remembers the small marks on Adora’s skin of her shoulder, which makes her wonder if Adora even noticed them when she lied to her. Catra knows those marks, those welts. She feels sick to her stomach at the thought of how she really is the one protecting her. Adora may try her best, but she’s not enough. There’s nothing she can do about that, and she’ll never see it until it’s too late. Catra shakes her head and clenches her fist. Regardless of whether Adora accepts it, she has to do something about it. _When Bow and Glimmer get back, I’ll ask— No. I’m going whether they agree or not. I’ll force her to come back. _  
  
“Catra?”, Bow’s frantic voice echoes down the hallway along with the sound of heavy footsteps. He stumbles onto the floor of her room, having expected the doors to give more resistance when he barges in. “Catra!! Glimmer’s gone, she’s been taken by the Horde!!” He picks himself up off the floor and brushes himself off.  
  
Catra leaps from her tree, landing in front of him and grabbing his arms. “Are you sure?? I don’t think Adora would kidnap someone... We had a good talk, and—“  
  
Bow frowns and gently places his hands on her shoulders, “There’s no other way. There was a struggle, I found her flower crumpled up on the ground. I’m sorry Catra, but I think your friend changed.”  
  
“No. I— She wouldn’t. There’s nothing different about her, Bow! Maybe it was the princess”, Catra asserts, her hands squeezing his arms now.  
  
He shakes his head, “Everyone saw her either around Adora, Entrapta, or the food tables.”  
  
Catra lets go and stands back, huffing as she puts a hand to her mask. “But I watched her all night. She didn’t do anything she wouldn’t do normally. I’m serious, Bow. I—“  
  
Brightmoon guards enter the room before Angella does, her eyes tired and fraught with worry. “There you two are...”, she says in relief, before gesturing. However, she stops and places that hand on her face. “The Horde has Glimmer. They’re holding her ransom until tomorrow unless I turn over Brightmoon and myself to them in return for Glimmer’s safety.”  
  
Catra’s heart aches as she realizes the two had to have been a diversion. She begins to zone out, thinking of how she’s been played and used yet again by Shadow Weaver. However, something still doesn’t add up. Why would Adora do it? “Hey... Catra? Catra, look at me?”, Bow’s voice rings out, bringing her back before she could spiral. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get answers.”  
  
Catra’s eyes snap to the Queen, “Don’t do anything yet. If you don’t hear from us an hour before it’s time, then do what you need to. Bow, get the other princesses. We’re going.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shadow Weaver returns to her chambers, finding Adora trying to chew her way through the straps on her shoulders. “Don’t do that, you’ll ruin your perfect teeth that I worked so hard on”, the woman growls as she hovers to princess Glimmer. “Your mother has until sunrise to turn herself and Brightmoon over in return for you. Should be enough time to get all the paperwork ready...” Her voice is smug and crooked, knowing that she’s won because family is always the most important thing. _How ridiculous..._  
  
“No.. I’ll fix this. I’ll get us out—", Adora grunts as she tries to get free to no avail.  
  
The sorceress laughs, making her way over to Adora. “If you think you’ll be getting out of this, you are sorely mistaken. I’ll make sure you don’t remember anything that’s happened.”  
  
_**Ą̴̪͙̮̠̻̬͎͇̍͑̀̌͐͗͆ḑ̶̰͓̲͍͓̜̜̓̑͊̅ǫ̴̰̰̣̫̝̪̼̊̓͋̋́͑̈́͋̄̈́͋͐r̷̠̠͈̜̙͌ā̵͉̹**_  
  
Shadow Weaver brings her hands to each side of Adora’s head. She begins to concentrate, magic sparking around her fingers as she musters up all her magic, knowing how hard headed Adora can be, it’s going to take most of her strength. “You won’t remember anything about today, yesterday... You’ll be a moldable blank slate. You won’t remember Catra, and she’s not around to ruin your future.” Adora screams as the magic begins to seep through her skull. Tears sting her eyes, running down her cheeks as her whole head aches as it courses through her. She can feel the memories being ripped away from her, darkness creeping closer. She opens her eyes, looking up and around her as she feels herself losing grip on consciousness. Her eyes flit to Glimmer, who is shouting something she can’t hear. Ringing in her ears is all she can hear, all she can feel is pain ebbing into numbness and nausea. One last gaze up to Shadow Weaver and she starts seeing black.  
  
_**Ă̶̰͓͚͇̞̙̅̔̆̏̂̌̂̐͘͠d̶̡̢̢̳̺̯̪̜͕͔̳̱̖̼̥̟̤̗͇͒̆̂̎̍̑̃̕͜͝ǫ̴̨̛̰͚̘̩̘̳͕̮̻̉̍͂̌͂̿̐̇̎̉͋͗̅̔́͗͘ͅr̴̢͍̞͂͒͗̉̎͠ͅͅa̷̫̍͛͒̂̇̾̈́́́̌̓͆̃͋̉͠͝**_  
  
  
  
_**Ć̴͖̭a̴̢̨̦̘̘̲̳̲̖͖̜͉͓̻͕̳̣͊͒̉̌̈͋́̈́̓͒̔̒̃̆͌͑̕͝ͅǹ̴̡̨̘͍̝͖͚̥̼ ̵̗̲̰͔̻̫̱͓͒̉̓̄̌̆̌͘͘͝͠ỹ̶͎̠͕̺̪͖̟̯̺͇͖̗͓̖̱͊̈̈́͐̓͋̓̆̊̚̕͜͝͝ͅo̴̢̝̥͇͖̩̖̬͚̳͈͙̟̻̞̝͓̝͎͓͒͒͌͋́̏̚̕ȕ̸̜̖̬̠̔̚͝͠ ̶̛̞̫̱̰̆̆̉̃͑͛̈́̐̅̈́̋͌͗̕̚͘̚͝h̶̳̮͖̱̱̊̋̎͆̒̅̏̂̕͘͝ȇ̸̡̡̞̫̱̦̠̗͓͍̱̱͈̯̠͈̮̚a̷̛̹͈͊̑̊̔̀̀̈́̂͊̂͌͐͒̂̑͝r̶̛͈͚̭̹̫̤̂͂̉̇̽̿̕ ̶̮̭̫̣̻̟̥̗̦̟̣̪̗̿͐͌̄͗͛̆́̈́̓̚̚͜͠ͅṃ̴͖̗̺̝̗͕̼͖̟̝̺̼̩̤̳̦̔̋̓́̏̌̓̌̏̚̚͝ḛ̶̌̌̽̃̓̌̓̍͊̿̀̀**_  
  
  
  
Glitching, flickering figure in the darkness. Adora walks forward to investigate, reaching out. She recognizes her sword, only it’s glowing and the stone in the pommel is no longer dull. It’s bright and full of color. Her hand goes through the image, making her realize it is not real.  
  
_**Y̶̢̹̟͍͉̅̍̆͗̊̂̄̏̀̂̇̑̓̆͛̕͜ó̸͇͇̗̤̙̎̄̋̍͑̅͌̄̂͆̈́͐u̴̧̧̜̺̫͔͍̪̤̩̝̬͖͉̤̍͌̌̊̈͑͝ ̶̧̱̺̬̼̗̭̗̟͎̭̥̪̙͇̥̲̓͜͜ͅą̸̝̲̪̺̗͎̳̰͚̫͉̱͊̈́̇͐̚͝͝r̶͙͇̺̈̆͆̈̍̊̒̑ẽ̷̢̢̱̙̭͚͜ ̴͎̳̏͛̉̎̾͂̍̕͘͠ͅE̵̢̡͙̣̬̰̼͎̪̝͔̺̻̩͙̙̗̼͊̏̾̕͜ṭ̶̢̛̛̩̘̲̤̩̺̝̫̜͙͍̘̬̞̱̂̀̒͑̈́̋̊̍̋̏͑̋̂̚͠ḥ̵̥͙̲̠̰̟̮̱̿͗̋͋̑͗̆̌͑͆͐̾̑̓̄̕̕ḛ̷̞̗̥͕̩̹̺̞̙̤̫̠̻̳͐͌̈́̊̽̄̇̓͆͒̏̒̕̚͜ͅr̷̨̧̡͙̝̙͍͎͓͓̖̝̥͔͍͚̰̹̀̓͊̈́͑͠ͅi̶̧̛̻̦̪̞͙̟̙̯͈͛͗̉̿̈́̉͆̚a̸̛̛̭͍͈̞̟̗͎̥̮̝̐͗̅͋̑̉̏̏̌̿͌͂̀̇͘͝͝ͅͅ'̵̨̮̰̮̩͎́͑̃̌͋̾̓̓͐̅̏̓̽͑͝͝͝s̵̯͋͒̈́ ̴̢̨̞͓̗͈̬̱͖̲̰͌̈̊̊̋l̵̛̛̖̪͚̭̬̅̏̅̿̒̃̔̂̋̒͆͘͠â̷̱̱͓̙̼̲̐̄̌̓̿̐̓͆́͋̀̔̈́̈́͌̔̓̏s̸̝͙̼̱̘̦͍̠̖̥̙̪̹̠͎͕͊͠ț̵̡̭̥̑ ̵̧̯͈̥̞̩̩͌̆͌͗͂̄̾͌h̵̬̥͙̽̾͒͛̇̊͛̏̅̓͗̽̓͘-ǫ̴̻̟̭̰͙̖̙͛̐̇͆͛̓͆̄̇͜p̴̨̧̡̮̪̞̳͍͉̲̼̏͒̉̓͆̓̐̋͜͝͝e̷̠̾̏̉, Adora**_  
  
  
  
_Adora? Is she talking to me?_  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?”, Scorpia asks the weird inspector who seems to not be good at his job.  
  
The man cups his chin and attempts to smolder and dazzle her, “Perhaps...in your dreams?”  
  
Scorpia taps her chin with one of her pincer’s, looking puzzled. “Hmm. No. I know I’ve seen—" She gasps as she recognizes him finally. "You’re that pirate that was at the gates and at the ball with that mermaid!“  
  
“Her name is Mermista and she is the most— Duck?”, he raises an eyebrow at the words on the screen that suddenly popped up behind Scorpia and does as suggested.  
  
“A duck?? Where???!”, Scorpia asks cheerfully before getting clocked with debris from an overhead pipe. He steps over her and looks around, finding Entrapta in a nearby tower with Perfuma by her.  
  
Sea Hawk waves as a thank you and moves on with their search and rescue.  
  
  
By the time Bow and Catra get to Shadow Weaver’s chambers, that being the only plausible place Glimmer could be held since she could easily teleport out of their prisons, Glimmer has managed to escape the Black Garnet’s magic disruption. Shadow Weaver lays on the floor, having been knocked out by the princess. “You came”, Glimmer says, sounding drained. She sees the look on Catra’s face and deduces that she must’ve caught sight of Adora. “I... I’m sorry, Catra. I don’t think I was in time to stop it.”  
  
Instead of going straight to Adora, who remains strapped to the table and unconscious, she goes to Glimmer. She hugs her tight and presses her face into Glimmer’s hair. “You tried... It’s okay, you tried... You didn’t want her to get hurt and— That means a lot to me. What did she do?” Her voice is a hollow whisper as she looks back at Adora. She’s never seen her like this, slumped over and pale. She’s scared to even touch her, not wanting to find out that way. Marks begin to appear all over her skin and Catra feels sick. “Nevermind... We need to go.”  
  
Bow walks over to Catra and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Glimmer? Can you teleport us out?”  
  
Glimmer grunts as she tries to summon her magic, but her body flashes with red magic and she stops. “N-No.. The Black Garnet did something to my powers...”, she says and leans against them. “Who all is here?”  
  
“Everyone. We weren’t going to leave you behind, Glimmer. We’re meeting them on the other side...”, Bow assures her and pulls her arm over his shoulder. He starts to walk, but then stops and look at Catra who isn’t budging. “Catra?”  
  
Catra stares at Adora, not wanting to leave her like that. Not wanting to leave without knowing. She steps forward and slowly reaches out to Adora’s face. Its warmth instantly fills her with relief and a choked sob escapes her lips. She removes the straps from Adora’s body and kneels a bit to let the body fall over her shoulder gently. “I’m not leaving her.”  
  
Bow frowns, “But Catra—”  
  
“She’s hurt, Bow!!!”, she yells at him. “Look at her, she could be dying for all we know!!!” Her voice echoes off the walls, resounding to her ears. She holds Adora tight and glares at him.  
  
Glimmer gently tugs Bow forward, “Come on. We’ll figure it out later.” Catra walks in front of them before she breaks into a jog, guiding them out of the Frightzone where they meet the others. Together, they take into the Whispering Woods. After a while, Catra begins to lag behind.  
  
“Perfuma? Can you make sure she’s alright?”, Catra asks the princess softly. “You’re some kind of... plant person. You guys make medicine and stuff off of it.”  
  
Perfuma helps Catra lay Adora gently on the grass and starts going over her vitals. She could feel her breathing, she counted a healthy number of beats per minute. “She doesn’t sound like anything is wrong. Maybe the magic will run its course and that’s all.”  
  
Catra looks up at Perfuma, “Then why isn’t she waking up if she’s so healthy?”  
  
“Maybe she’s in a coma and her body is healing itself”, Perfuma suggests. She places a hand on Catra’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s okay, though. Everything in her seems fine.”  
  
Catra strokes Adora’s face gently, a way to reassure herself that Adora is alive. “Then... I’ll stay out here in the woods with her until she wakes up.”  
  
Bow stands upright and guides Glimmer onto Sea Hawk’s arm, “Whoa, Catra. Don’t you think it would be best to bring her to the infirmary?”  
  
Catra shakes her head, glaring up at him, “No!! No. I’m done for the day. I can take care of her out here.” _I want to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. _  
  
Bow gently walks over to Catra and offers his hand, “You can stay by her side in the infirmary where we can keep her safe—“  
  
“I’ll keep her safe!!! Go away, all of you!!!”, she screams, tears furiously escaping her eyes. She picks up Adora gently, yet swiftly and runs into the darkness of the woods.

* * *

  
  
  
  
Scorpia wakes up confused, unsure what happened exactly. She had been doing her rounds and came across suspicious activity. It turned out to be an inspector. She hums when she looks around, finding herself alone and assumes they must’ve passed if he’s no where to be found. She decides to go find Adora, heading to her room. When she doesn’t find her there, she goes to Adora’s room. Then to the training room. Only to find her no where. Her last stop, begrudgingly, is Shadow Weaver’s chambers. “... Shadow Weaver? Um, sorry to bother you, is— Have you seen Adora?”  
  
  
Shadow Weaver groans as she comes to, hearing Adora’s name. She looks up to find the table she’d strapped the woman to empty. She rises and holds her mask over her face. She narrows her eyes at Scorpia, _you were supposed to keep her here. You were supposed to replace Catra and make her think everything is okay. _“It seems she has left the Horde. Why do you care?”, she states coldly.  
  
  
Scorpia’s heart catches in her throat and she blinks. “Oh... No reason. We, uh.. We were just missing a Force Captain at our meeting...”, she says as she backs away. _She left without me? Maybe— Maybe she had no choice. She wouldn’t just leave without telling or taking me. Not anymore... _

* * *

  
  
_Who are you? Where am I? What happened to me?_  
  



	10. discovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpia stands in one of the halls of the Fright Zone, gazing out a pentagonal window at the trees beyond. She wonders if that’s where Adora could have fled to, if she did. Ever since she found out what Shadow Weaver has been doing to Adora and her friend Catra, she can’t trust the dark sorceress anymore. For hers and the safety of others, she pretends nothing is wrong. Besides, who would care? Hordak sure wouldn’t, that’s for sure. She sniffles and then sneezes, rubbing her claw with her nose.
> 
> “Bless you”, a voice responds.
> 
> “Thank—", Scorpia starts before looking around. It sounded like it came from the ceiling, so she looks up. "...Lord...Hordak...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry these are taking longer than usual

**_Adora... We don’t have much time. You’ll wake up soon._**  
  
  
“Why are you calling me that? Is that.. Is that my name?”, her own voice echoes around her. She looks above, turning, trying to find the source of the voice. She then looks down at her hands, opening and closing her fists. The darkness turns to a bright light, causing her to cover her face as she gasps. Whoever the woman is sounds clearer than before.  
  
**_You must restore the balance to Etheria._**  
  
Quickly, the space is filled with glances of the planets, a large stone on a tower, a similar stone underwater.  
  
**_Etheria must seek a hero._**  
  
_Etheria? Who is she?, _Adora thinks as a tall woman with long flowing blonde hair comes into view, wearing white and gold with a red cape, as well as her sword. She hears the sound of a baby crying and then a hologram cuts in, indigo and glitching.  
  
**_Adora.... Adora--_**  
  
  
“Adora?”, Catra murmurs softly when she sets her against the branch of a tree. “...I don’t know if you can hear me. Stay here.. I’ll find us shelter before the rain starts.” With that, she leaps among the trees in search of an abandoned village or some kind of structure that was safe from lightning. It’s hard to concentrate when thoughts of the possibility that Adora won’t wake up again feed into her anxiety. It makes her sick, it almost makes her miss a branch. All the times Shadow Weaver used her magic on her flash through her mind, but it never left her unconscious. _Why did she start now? Adora is her most prized p— _“Shadow Weaver doesn’t own anyone”, she growls to herself as a reminder. “Shelter. Shelter... Must find shelter...” She continues on, trying not to get lost in her thoughts again. She comes across a partially destroyed village, looking familiar to her. Her stomach twists when she realizes it’s the last time she was with Adora, on the same side. Yet, it’s still shelter. Begrudgingly, she heads into one of the homes that was the least damaged and clears it out of any pests before deciding to fetch Adora.  
  
Catra carefully lands before Adora, who hasn’t moved. _Good... Still asleep, where I left you. _She hauls her up into her arms and makes her way back to her newfound shelter. She is gentle with each step, in case she were to suddenly wake her up. The rain starts to pour and she kicks it into gear, just barely making it into the home before comes down hard. She pants and huffs, setting Adora down gently on a pile of leaves she gathered for her. She shakes herself dry and gingerly pulls off Adora’s jacket. _Now for the hard part..._ She does her best to remove her shirt as carefully as she can, not wanting to disturb the welts and marks on her skin from Shadow Weaver’s dark magic. A shaky gasp escapes Catra’s lips as she sees them all over her torso. Adora’s skin is red around each one, some are even festering. She touches Adora’s forehead and hisses at how hot it is. “Must be trying to fight it off...” Catra pulls her close, holding her gently and burying her face in Adora’s neck, “I’m... This is... What did you do?”, she whispers. She sets her back down and folds Adora’s shirt and jacket to make a pillow under her head so she can rest easier. She starts looking around for hopefully some kind of salve that can help the marks, help her heal. She sighs to herself, wishing she’d had something like that for herself when it happened before. She searches the cabinets and finds nothing, so she decides to search the rest of the village. She manages to find food and salve, so she brings both back and sets the salve down beside Adora. She carefully sits her up and places the goop on her marks with tender care. She hears small grunts coming from Adora, causing her ears to press against her skull at the sound. It saddens her, knowing that she let this happen.  
  
When she finishes, she lays Adora back down and covers her with a blanket to help her sweat off the fever. Catra sits beside her, watching her as if that would will her to get better immediately. When it doesn’t happen after about ten minutes, she sighs and stands. She decides to check out the situation with the food she found. Potatoes, bread... Fruits..? Catra shakes her head, not remembering the names of the things. If she wants meat, she will have to go out and hunt it herself. Neither of them can be picky when they’ve only known rationbars from the Fright Zone. Catra isn’t sure if she could stand the things anymore, and she becomes curious if Adora could eat them after seeing how she and the other one stuffed their faces at the prom. Catra stands suddenly, ears flicking for sounds of nearby wildlife. She also now realizes that princess Scorpia may start looking for Adora. That is, if she knows what happened. Thanks to Entrapta, that doesn’t seem to be the case. She turns her head, zeroing in on an animal with horns and hooves. She dashes out to fetch the protein of their meal.  


* * *

  
  
  
Scorpia stands in one of the halls of the Fright Zone, gazing out a pentagonal window at the trees beyond. She wonders if that’s where Adora could have fled to, if she did. Ever since she found out what Shadow Weaver has been doing to Adora and her friend Catra, she can’t trust the dark sorceress anymore. For hers and the safety of others, she pretends nothing is wrong. Besides, who would care? Hordak sure wouldn’t, that’s for sure. She sniffles and then sneezes, rubbing her claw with her nose.  
  
“Bless you”, a voice responds.  
  
“Thank—", Scorpia starts before looking around. It sounded like it came from the ceiling, so she looks up. "...Lord...Hordak...?"  
  
Silence occurs before Scorpia realizes someone has to be around. She looks for signs of a presence by feeling for vibrations. “...Alright. I’m not going to hurt you. Just come out and explain why you are hiding.”  
  
It takes a moment before the source of the voice exits the nearby airduct and lowers herself to the ground.  
  
“Hey, I know you! Princess Entrapta? What are you—", she hears footsteps and quickly takes Entrapta somewhere safe, a nearby supply closet. She whispers now, "What are you doing here???“  
  
Entrapta blinks and looks around the supply closet, “You guys sure have a lot of messed up tech. Half of it is broken.”  
  
Scorpia frowns a bit and gently places a pincer on her shoulder, “I’m sorry, could you focus for a minute? This— It’s very dangerous for you to be here! What are you doing?”  
  
“Oh, we came for Princess Glimmer and maybe Adora. They had trouble finding me before, so I thought I would stay still in one spot. What are you doing here?”, she responds blankly, but with a cheeriness. “Did we do it?”  
  
Scorpia backs up from Entrapta, bumping into a few shelves as she is told the truth. “She’s— They’re gone, they— Two days ago! But— Of course Shadow Weaver lied about that.”

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
Adora reaches for her sword, grasping at nothing in her unconsciousness. Her skin isn’t as pale anymore and her fever is gone. The welts on her skin have cleared up, but they’ve left scars in their wake. Catra gently puts Adora’s shirt back on, but decides to wear the jacket herself since it’s gotten a little windy. She uses her claws to brush through Adora’s hair, remembering how much she hated having knots and loves going through Catra’s to get them apart. “Adora? I’m going to need you to wake up soon... I can’t feed you anything. You need to eat...”, she murmurs to her. “I mean, I could choke you.. I don’t really want to deal with that mess, though...” Catra leans forward and presses a kiss on her cheek, then her forehead to check her temperature. She licks her lips as she hovers over her now. She slowly presses a soft kiss to Adora’s lips, wondering if that could awaken her. After a moment, she pulls away when nothing happens. She sighs and leans back against the wall. “I don’t even know what I’ll do with you if you wake up, actually... What would you do? Probably run back to the Horde...”‘  
  
Within a couple hours, Catra falls asleep, holding Adora protectively close to herself. Adora’s eyes flutter open and everything comes into view slowly. She finds herself in some kind of home structure, laying down with something heavy attached to her. She looks down, finding an orangeish brown arm clutching her. She follows it to the person it belongs to and yells in surprise, grunting as she tries to free herself from her grip. She backs away some, panicked as she doesn’t know who or where she is, nor does she know who’s arms she was in. “Who are you, what do you want with me!?”, she demands as she reaches behind her for her sword, only to grasp at air. “You’ve taken my sword—“  
  
“Whoa, Adora!! A-door-ra”, she sounds out and puts her hands up. “It’s me!! Catra, don’t you remember me??” Catra’s heart races as Adora is finally awake, but talking weird. “What’s wrong?”  
  
Adora pants as her heart races as well, gazing down at the person who calls herself ‘Catra’. “So my name is Adora then...” Her stance goes from defensive to eased and she sighs. “You’re...Catra. What are we doing here? Why do you have ears like that—" Her eyes catch something at an angle behind Catra, "And a tail??“  
  
Catra’s heart breaks at her words. “You... You don’t remember anything... or even yourself? Nothing before you were asleep?”  
  
“What? Do you think you know me or something?”, she asks, lowering to sit. “Wait, do you know??”  
  
Catra now realizes she has a choice to make. Lie and tell Adora that she’s a soldier for the Rebellion, or tell her what happened to her. She looks up at Adora as she sits, looking into those innocent eyes she’s missed. It’s not a hard decision to make, of course. “Um. Yeah... Yeah, I know. You’re a soldier. An evil sorceress kidnapped you and took you to the Horde. I think she wiped your memory, and we came to save you. Something was wrong, though. The magic made your body sick and I’ve been nursing you back to health. We’re best friends— We’re, uh... Really close.” She reaches her hand out to Adora. “I was really worried.”  
  
Adora stares at her, and the hand in front of her. It’s kind of a lot to take in, but there’s enough details that she can make sense of. “Uh.. Okay... What did she want with me?”  
  
“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d know, but... Yeah. Maybe she was after your sword. I haven’t seen it, it’s your prized possession. Sometimes I think you loved it more than me”, she jokes, but is being honest. She notices Adora’s eyes soften and she knows what that means.  
  
Adora takes the hand and holds it, “Oh, I’m so sorry... I don’t really know you, but I don’t think I would’ve loved a sword more than a person. Was I really that mean?”  
  
Catra shakes her head, scooting closer and pulling her into an accepted and even reciprocated hug. “No. You weren’t mean at all... I mean, you’re my favorite person and I don’t like mean people.” She holds her closer and presses her face into Adora’s shoulder. “We should go back and make sure you aren’t sick anymore. The Rebellion will be happy to see you. Uh.. I want to intro— reintroduce you to people one or two at a time first, though... Is that okay? I don’t want to overwhelm you...”  
  
“That would be nice. So then... We’re going home?”, she asks as she stands with Catra. “Well, I guess you’ll need to lead the way, then.” She laughs a bit at her own joke. “Wait, what about my sword?”  
  
Catra shakes her head, “I’ll find it for you. We need to get you somewhere safe first, though. In case she comes back.”  
  
Adora nods quickly, looking around anxiously. “R-Right, good idea!”, she says awkwardly and instinctively grabs Catra’s hand. It sparks a fuzzy image in her mind, of when they were young. She wonders if it’s her imagination, or if it could be a memory. Either way, she tries not to think about it as Catra leads her out of the ruined village.  


* * *

  
  
  
  
Scorpia paces in her room, having managed to sneak Entrapta into it. Now she’s trying to figure out what she can do, or what she should do. It would go against the Horde to help her escape. However, her loyalty lies more with Adora than the Horde now, it seems... “Okay. So what was the plan fully?”  
  
“Plan? Ohhh, right! Okay, we mostly individually all sneak into the Fright Zone. We find Glimmer. We save her and escape”, she lists off on strands of her hair that shape into a hand and fingers.  
  
“Where does Adora fit in all that, though??”, Scorpia presses, wanting to understand more before she can make a decision.  
  
Entrapta hums for a moment, leaning back on her hair that makes itself a seat under her. “I’m not sure myself, actually. I don’t know if we were going to search for her, too, or if it’s a ‘if we encounter her’ kind of deal. The Adora part was Catra’s thing. She seemed pretty adamant about it after the prom when we were talking about how we’re going to save Glimmer when we were on the way. She said she saw stuff on her skin, bad stuff.”  
  
Scorpia stops pacing and frowns, kneeling to be eye level with Entrapta. “So it was a complete search and rescue mission. Not a kidnapping side job”, she says for confirmation.  
  
“That’s right!”, she says as her little tablet beeps. “Hmm, that’s oooddd. It says there’s a powerful First One’s tech in the Fright Zone. It’s next to a blob that Catra told me is the Black Garnet.”  
  
“Adora’s sword.” Scorpia groans and presses a pincer to her forehead. “This is a mess. Oh man, this is such a mess. Adora is out there without her sword, possibly fighting the whole Rebellion. I knew she wouldn’t just up and leave the Horde without notice!”  
  
Entrapta tilts her head, blinking until she realizes with a big gasp what Scorpia must mean by sword. “The sword of Protection!? Oh man, that’s—!!! We need to get that!! Princess Scorpia, I implore you to assist me to get that sword!! It is important!!!”  
  
Scorpia feels Entrapta’s hair grab her shoulders and shake her a bit. Despite the situation, she finds herself giggling a bit at the other’s sudden excitement. “Wh— Wait, I can’t leave. My family is here, they gave the Horde the Black Garnet...”  
  
"Tell me, please, what is your connection to the runestone otherwise? Do you draw anything from it? Any powers like Princess Glimmer? Or Mermista did?", Entrapta asks.  
  
“....No...? Why? Am I supposed to?”, Scorpia asks, becoming somewhat distracted now. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘did’?”  
  
Entrapta holds up her hands, “Okay! The gate to Salineas had her runestone, The Pearl, attached to it. It is now sunken from the battle for Salineas, so it’s just... There. Dormant now that Mermista had to leave her home. Her connection to it is very weak, almost non existent. It’s mainly that she can’t control the water anymore.”  
  
Scorpia frowns as she remembers tearing the gate down, feeling somewhat guilty for it. However, it’s what the Horde wanted from her and Adora, and Adora didn’t think anything of it. “Wow... I, uh.. I didn’t know about all that. You’re saying I should have a connection to mine, then?”  
  
“You’re supposed to!! It could’ve been cut a long time ago, though”, she says with a little laughter. “Nothing we can’t fix. I’d just need to play around with it.” Entrapta feels herself growing eager to play with it, as none of the others let her gather data on their runestones. “Maybe I can check out the sword, too?”  
  
Scorpia puts a pincer to her chin, “Wait. I don’t want to help you help the Rebellion...”  
  
Entrapta waves her hands, “No, not at all!! This is pure research, this is my dream!!!”  
  
“....Alright.. This means we’ll need to turn you in to Hordak so you can get permission to do all of this”, she says, offering her pincer to Entrapta. _Maybe with the information we find out on the sword, we can help Adora. We haven’t forgotten about you, sunshine... I promise, I’ll free you from the Rebellion._  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
“Wait here, Adora. I need to talk to them first. Stay out of sight, okay? You weren’t good at hiding, but I’m not the one looking for you, so... I think you’ll be okay”, Catra teases, giving her a wink before she climbs up the tree.  
  
Adora watches her, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I was clumsy. Just do whatever you’re gonna do...” Being around Catra felt odd, but it also felt fun. She doesn’t really know her anymore, but she can see the girl must really like her. She seems to have her best interest at heart, too.  
  
Catra launches herself through her window and heads straight to Glimmer’s room. “Glimmer?”, she asks before walking in anyway. She sees her and Bow hugging while she glows red and seems glitchy. “Uh, what’s going on?”  
  
“We think the Black Garnet did something to her. Maybe it disrupted her connection to the Moonstone...”, Bow says with a frown as he rubs his arms. “Be careful. It hurts so much... What are you doing back here? Is everything okay with your friend?”  
  
Catra walks up to Glimmer cautiously, looking over her now that she wasn’t glowing. “Yeah.. Your hair sparkles aren’t as shiny and much. But uh, yeah. She’s here. Wants to join the— Well, wants to _return_ to the Rebellion...”  
  
Glimmer raises an eyebrow, “Wait, what do you mean ‘return’ to the Rebellion??”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my workload is like triple all my last semesters


	11. connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sorceress clutches the runestone, “You will not take what’s mine!!!!!”, she cries. The Black Garnet begins to glow and Scorpia rushes forward, grabbing it with her pincers from the other side. She grunts, feeling energy begin to surge through her. Shadow Weaver absorbs the power into the crystal on the forehead of her mask.
> 
> What’s— What’s happening to me?? What is this? Scorpia’s eyes glow momentarily and she feels an odd, strangely familiar energy within her, surrounding her. “You never owned the Black Garnet. My family did, before we gave it to Lord Hordak. He only let you use it.”

“Absolutely not, this is not going to work, Catra....”, Glimmer says, starting to pace. “Why in Etheria would we pretend that she’s one of the Rebellion?”   
  
Catra scowls, rubbing her neck. “It’ll work. Adora’s kinda dumb... She never noticed anything...that...happened to me...” Her voice goes quiet, she crosses her arms. “Or she didn’t think about it. It’s not like I can ask now, though. She’s— I think Shadow Weaver erased her memories. She isn’t even sure who she is, I think...”   
  
Glimmer’s eyes leave Catra, regret ebbing into her. “I... I had a feeling. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her. I wasn’t able to break free in time to stop her. Does she at least know her name?”  
  
“...Yeah, maybe. I’m sure she could’ve died if you hadn’t gotten out of it at all...”, Catra says, looking down to Catra. “Thank you for that. You know why we’re going to do this, though. It’ll keep her safe from Shadow Weaver. I have no doubt she’ll try to get her precious Adora back, so we can also use that to our advantage...”  
  
Bow clears his throat gently, putting a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. “And I’m sure it would mean a lot to Catra. And this can distract your mom while we try to figure out how we can fix all...this...”, he offers, gesturing to Glimmer’s dull hair as a way to say her disruption of magic.   
  
Glimmer crosses her arms and pouts as she considers it. With a groan, she puts her hand out for Catra. “Alright... We’ll do this. She really doesn’t remember anything?”  
  
“Yes!!!”, Catra squeals and grabs Glimmer’s hand. “Thank you so much, come on!!!” She runs to the nearest window and jumps out with Bow in tow by Glimmer. She feels like everything may be falling into place. Surely she can keep Adora safe, as she did before. Maybe she can even find out about Adora, too. When she brings Bow and Glimmer to where she left Adora, the amnesia girl is no where to be found. She groans loudly, pressing a hand to her face. “Where could she have gone?? I told her to wait right here!!”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
Entrapta stares at the machine she has the sword hooked up to. To both her and Scorpia’s surprise, they were allowed to explore their experiment. For what purpose of Hordak’s...generosity, they do not know. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t grateful. It displays lines and lines of a constant stream of data. Also hooked up to the computer, a strange disk she thinks may enhance machinery. Scorpia looms over Entrapta’s shoulder, trying to make sense of whatever the strange writings are on the screen. She frowns in confusion at them, just seeing shapes and lines. “What..is this?”  
  
“What? Oh!! You mean that?”, she responds with a snort. “That’s First One’s language!! It’s an ancient writing system from the first people who lived on Etheria!! These days, no one knows it. I’m still learning it myself. I have the basics, though.” Entrapta points at the screen with her hair, “See this? That means magic... this one is ‘only’.... this one is ‘chosen’...”  
  
Scorpia nods sheepishly, pretending she understands. “Okay. Uh, sure! So what’s this.. pointy disk?”  
  
Entrapta shrugs, “It’s some form of data. I’m hoping to see if it could enhance our lives in some way.”  
  
“Mmhm...mhm...”, the princess hums and then jerks at the sound of a door opening.   
  
Shadow Weaver glides in, “Just what do the two of you think you’re doing in my chambers?!”  
  
Scorpia backs up, raising her hands gently. “We’re just—”  
  
_**“Silence!!!!!!!**_”, Shadow Weaver spits. She glowers over the force captain, attempting to intimidate her. “Did you really think you could invade my inner sanctum without me noticing?! Are you that dense, Force Captain Scorpia!?”  
  
Scorpia’s will momentarily wavers, fear shooting up her spine as the sorceress’s shadows swirl around them. She closes her eyes tightly, before remembering why she’s even in the room. She then stands tall, glaring at Shadow Weaver. “We have been given rights to this runestone, and to Adora’s sword. We may do what we wish for the purpose of research and advancement of the Horde.”  
  
Shadow Weaver outright cackles at the princess’s gull. “Oh, is that so? On whose authority??”  
  
  
“Mine”, a digitized voice declares behind them. Hordak appears on a nearby screen, narrowing his eyes at Shadow Weaver.   
  
Shadow Weaver’s breath catches in her throat and her eyes widen. “L-Lord Hordak, I don’t understand— What’s the meaning of this?”  
  
Lord Hordak raises a non-exist eyebrow, “Scorpia and Entrapta are working to weaponize the Black Garnet by melding it with this...First One’s tech. I was intrigued by the idea and allowed them to explore. Force Captain Scorpia has my authority to go ahead with her team, so understand, Shadow Weaver... I am displeased with your interruption.”  
  
“My Lord, I can’t believe you’re going to let these princesses tinker with my runestone!!”, she points between Scorpia and Entrapta. “Is she even aligned with the Horde??”  
  
Lord Hordak narrows his eyes, eyes glowing more red as his anger brews. “Whether she is, or whether she is neutral, her tinkering has already improved every bit of machinery she has come in contact with. She can tinker with whatever she wants, including the Black Garnet, which is _mine_ to give or take, lest you forget?”  
  
Shadow Weaver glares up at Hordak through the screen, beginning to seethe. “You can’t do this!! Only I can draw power from it, only I can control it, only I can unleash its potential!!!”, she declares.   
  
“And what have you done? Wasted it on parlor tricks. Proceed, Force Captain Scorpia.”  
  
“_**NOOO!!!!!!!!”, **_Shadow Weaver screams, shooting shadows out all around her. A tendril surges to Scorpia, who ducks. Next, the shadows rise along the walls, shattering the screens where Hordak had been on display.   
  
Entrapta covers herself with her hair, as Scorpia does the same with her pincers. “Entrapta, keep yourself covered with Emily, I got this!!”, Scorpia calls as she sees Shadow Weaver lunge for the Black Garnet.   
  
The sorceress clutches the runestone, “_**You will not take what’s mine!!!!!**_”, she cries. The Black Garnet begins to glow and Scorpia rushes forward, grabbing it with her pincers from the other side. She grunts, feeling energy begin to surge through her. Shadow Weaver absorbs the power into the crystal on the forehead of her mask.  
  
_What’s— What’s happening to me?? What is this? _Scorpia’s eyes glow momentarily and she feels an odd, strangely familiar energy within her, surrounding her. “You never owned the Black Garnet. My family did, before we gave it to Lord Hordak. He only let you use it.” She feels...tense and tight. The new energy within her feels warm and electrifying, different from how she’d expect. She remembers how Adora would tell her about what it felt like when Shadow Weaver used her magic on her. Seeping, prickly, paralyzing, painful... Remembering Adora keeps her grounded, away from the lure of losing herself to this magic. It’s about time Shadow Weaver paid for everything she’s done. She dodges another lurch of shadows before winding back her pincer. She grabs her with the other one by the collar of her cloak, the contact paralyzing Shadow Weaver instantly, as she has done to others. “This is for Adora, and whoever else you’ve abused with and without your magic”, she growls as she punches her hard in the face, the mask and the crystal harvesting the Black Garnet’s power. It sparks a bit before it crumbles and Scorpia drops her to the floor. She breathes heavily, stepping back and leaning against the runestone. Being near it with its magic within her feels oddly...comforting to her. It’s like both her mothers’ warmth and love that she’d forgotten long ago before she lost them both. It replaces the anger she’s been harboring towards Shadow Weaver since she first learned of her. Scorpia’s eyes sting with nostalgia and a feeling of relief, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks as guards come to take Shadow Weaver away.  
  
Entrapta looks up from the bot she reprogrammed, having been clinging to it while the two fought. She reaches out with her hair, gently wrapping it around one of Scorpia’s pincers and offering a smile when she looks up. “Thank you for your support and safety!”, she says with an awkward smile. She isn’t really sure how to go about this, everything that just happened was pretty awkward in her eyes. She wouldn’t know how to deal with it. She lets go and gets back to work after feeling Scorpia give the tendril of hair a squeeze. “So, uh... Adora was hurt by her?”  
  
“..Yeah. She— From what she said, it only recently got physical... I wish I’d known her before. I could’ve protected her from it. Her friend, too, probably...”, Scorpia says solemnly. “I can’t think about what could’ve been, though. Wherever Adora is, I’m sure she’s safe. Maybe freaking out because she can’t find her sword. That’s better than being hurt here, though.” Suddenly, a dizziness washes over her. She uses the runestone for support, turning to it to look at herself. The area around her eyes is slightly darker and she feels tired. “I think I’ll go rest... Will you be okay here by yourself, Entrapta?”  
  
“You just took in and maybe expelled a lot of magic, Scorpia! You should eat something before you rest or you might feel worse”, Entrapta shares. “Come right back if you don’t feel better after the food and rest, okay? I have a theory.”  
  
Scorpia slowly nods and looks away from her reflection, pushing off the runestone. She leaves it and heads to her room. She sits down on the bed before pulling out an old picture from her drawer, setting it on top. It’s of her when she was a baby with her mothers. She sets it beside her little scorpion plush and smiles a bit as she feels closer to them after losing them. She lays down in her bed and hugs her pillow, which has one of Adora’s shirts over it. “...I miss you, sunshine... I hope you’re safe. I’ll be with you soon enough, don’t worry.” She snuggles her face into the shirt and lets the familiar scent of Adora help ease her to sleep.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
“Okay, so when we find her, I say we treat her like normal. Like, how you two have been treating me, which is normal I guess?”, Catra asks, turning around to walk backwards in front of Bow. He nods and she continues, “That way, if her memories come back, then maybe she’ll understand that the Horde is bad. That they’re horrible.”  
  
Bow nods again, “Sounds pretty solid. What if they don’t come back, though?”  
  
Catra blinks, staring at him blankly. She shrugs, “Then nothing. Everything is perfect.”  
  
“But she’s not _your_ Adora, though... She’s someone who thinks she’s Adora and just thinks you two are close, right?”  
  
Catra frowns, crossing her arms defiantly. “That’s enough for me. We can still rule together if I do end up being a princess. I’ll take the Horde and make Shadow Weaver pay.”  
  
Bow frowns, unsure what to think of that. It doesn’t exactly sound good. _Would they be able to be happy though with only half the truth? And lies?_  
  
“Okay, if she’s going to stay, don’t you think we need to change her clothes? She’s still wearing Horde clothes. She probably still has the badge on, too”, Glimmer offers, looking over to Catra. “I mean, how do we explain that? She was a double agent?” Catra’s eyes widen with a bit of mischief and Glimmer immediately starts shaking her head. “No, we are not telling her that!!! Just— If Shadow Weaver supposedly captured her, then maybe she did it to make her their best soldier after losing to her so many times? Can that work?”  
  
Catra’s eyes narrow a bit and she pouts. “She might get a big head from that, though.”  
  
Glimmer frowns at that, not really getting that vibe from her during the short time they switched partners in the dance at the Princess Prom. “I... I don’t think she sees herself— Well, saw herself the way you did or thought she did. She didn’t seem arrogant at all, just confused and stuff.”  
  
Catra rolls her eyes, “Well, she is pretty full of herself— Was, she thinks she can do anything. And she can... but I don’t want her to do it without me or for me.” She then stops dead in her tracks, hearing a familiar sound. “This way.” She looks up at the sight of a small amount of smoke rising above the trees and deduces that the sound is coming from the same direction. The two shrug and follow her, stumbling upon a hut.   
  
“Alright Mara, dearie!! Eat this up, it’ll restore your strength!!”, a thick, old voice coos from within the hut.   
  
The familiar sound begins again, “Oh, uh, thanks ma’am!”  
  
The woman laughs, waving her hand. “Just call me Madame Razz, or Razz for short! No need for formalities amongst old friends!”  
  
  
“That’s Adora. How the hell did she get all the way out here...”, Catra says with a groan. She walks up to the hut and knocks on the side of the wall before peering in. “Hello?”  
  
The two women sitting at the small table look up and the older woman grins. “More visitors!! Are these your friends, Mara?”, she asks as she gets up to grab more bowls as Adora is downing her bowl of soup.   
  
Adora sets the bowl down and immediately grins, “Catra!! You found me!! I’m so sorry, I must’ve passed out. When I woke up, I was here and she was taking care of me. It must’ve been from hunger since I feel a lot better now.”  
  
Catra goes over to her and gently pulls on her ponytail, “Dummy!! Why didn’t you say you were hungry, I could’ve caught something for you this morning!! I was so worried.” She lets go of the ponytail and instead hugs Adora, a sudden feeling of clinginess towards her. _I thought she’d found you and taken you._  
  
“I— You already took care of me. I didn’t even feel hungry either, though”, she says with a small smile. She eyes the two at the opening to the hut. “Uh.. Are these who I’m meeting again? I’m sorry.. I don’t know either of you..”  
  
Bow puts his hands up, “Oh, no, no! It’s okay, just take your time with that... I’m Bow. This is Glimmer.” He gestures his hands to the princess. “We, uh, worried about you some. We didn’t know what happened, but after you didn’t come back for a day or two....”  
  
Glimmer elbows him, giving him a look that says he’s talking too much. “Yeah, I’m Glimmer. I’m the princess of Brightmoon, where the Rebellion is. You sure, uh, had us worried. We know you’re strong, though!” She and Bow laugh awkwardly, making Catra roll her eyes. “We should head back so we can check on what’s left of your injuries, though...”  
  
Adora nods and stands up from her seat, going over to Madame Razz. “Right. Well, it looks like it’s time for me to go. Thank you again for the soup.” She offers her a hug and the old woman laughs.  
  
“Anytime, dearie, anytime! Just remember to come back sometime, and don’t forget about your sword!”  
  
Catra immediately grabs Adora’s arm and starts pulling her out, “Yeah, okay, thank you.” _Who is this woman and what does she know?? How does she know about Adora’s sword?? Could Adora have told her? No... She probably wouldn’t even think about it if she were so hungry she passed out... Damnit, Adora...You’re still the same even though you don’t know anything. Well, less than anything now..._  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
“Hey, Scorpia? This thing has been beeping for a while, what is it?”, Entrapta asks when she sees Scorpia return to the sanctum. She stretches her hair out and hands her a small tablet with a grid on it. “Sorry, I mean, you feeling any better first?”  
  
Scorpia doesn’t even look at the tablet before walking right over to the Black Garnet, groaning as she leans against it. “It’s for tracking Force Captains if they need help. I’m not really any better... I ate, too. I don’t know what’s wrong, I’ve never felt like this before...”  
  
Entrapta excitedly walks herself over to the princess using her hair. “Ooo!! Oooh!!! I have a theory for that!! You said your family gave the Black Garnet to Hordak, right??” She waits for Scorpia to nod before continuing, “Alright!! So, here’s the thing. I think this is your runestone and you’re supposed to be connected to it and I think you established a connection to it when that lady was bringing out its energy!!”  
  
Scorpia blinks, looking from her up to the runestone towering above her. She gently reaches out to touch it, feeling a longing within her. “...What does that mean for why I feel so drained and empty?”  
  
“I think it means you’re running on empty. Try pulling magic from the Black Garnet, okay?”, she recommends. “If you can’t directly, I can help with that!” Entrapta enthusiastically moves back to the computer, back to the sword.  
  
Scorpia gazes along the facets of the huge rock, starting to feel a pull towards it. Almost as if the Black Garnet is beckoning her, she reaches out. “...Alright, I’ll give it a try. Uh, do you have a runestone and can you tell me what exactly I’m supposed to do? I have no idea what I’m doing here.”  
  
Entrapta nods, “Oh of course, we can do research on that!!! I do not have a runestone, but we can definitely learn what you’re supposed to do somehow. As long as you definitely don’t mind me running some diagnostics and tests on you and the runestone?” She bites her lip, knowing all to well that she’s most likely about to get rejected.  
  
“Hm? You want to run tests?”, Scorpia asks, looking to Entrapta. “Sure, if you think that will help.”  
  
“It will, it will, I promise!!!!”, Entrapta exclaims excitedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmm not really much fluff this time sorry, but we are getting there, just establishing stuff
> 
> also shadow weaver you piece of shit


	12. famliar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpia concentrates hard at the foot of the Black Garnet. She remembers one of her mothers holding her as she shows it to her, but doesn’t understand what she’s saying. She remembers looking down over her shoulder and seeing her tail moving slowly to jab the runestone, but at the time she didn’t understand what was happening. Maybe my tail would absorb the energy? She brings her tail to her lap, looking at it with a pout. “Can you even do that??”, she asks it quietly and then groans when it doesn't answer back. As if it could. “Great, now you're just talking to yourself...“
> 
> “Research proves that talking to yourself does help hypothesis making and answering questions!”, Entrapta calls from her computer, causing Scorpia to jerk. She’d forgotten the other was here. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have blurted that out.” Entrapta grins sheepishly as she wheels around to Scorpia and goes over. “What are you thinking? I don’t think you’ll be able to draw power the same way the other princesses do, and we’ve already tested that theory a lot...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this hasn't been updated in so long! and that it's a little short, i have had so much shit to do!! this is a little more catradora chapter, but we will get back to adorpia, I promise. we just gotta get to their reunion

“We have to get my sword back, Catra”, Adora says as Catra pulls her through the woods. She frowns as the hand on her wrist begins to hurt, claws digging into the flesh. It feels familiar, so she thinks it must happen a lot. “Catra, stop. Catra!! Are you listening to me??”  
  
Catra stops and huffs, stomping the foot that was about to take a step forward. She lets go and turns around, “Yes, Adora, I heard you. You want to do too much. We need help if we’re going to do that and I need to bring you back to the Rebellion so we can estab— Try to bring back some memories. You’re so worried about that old hunk of junk...” Catra reaches for Adora’s face, frowning when she sees her wince. She pressies a finger gently to her forehead so her claw doesn’t somewhat stab her. “Calm down... We have to take steps first, okay, dummy?”  
  
When Adora realizes it’s a genuinely gently touch, she opens her eyes and looks up at the finger. A few memories resurface of this happening since they were little, causing her to smile with the rush of familiarity. “You’re right... I’m sorry, I just feel so incomplete without the sword...” She takes Catra’s hand when it leaves her face and starts a couple steps to get the other going again.  
  
“Yeah, I know. You used to talk about it all the time... I don’t understand why. You can slice and stuff, it’s just a sword”, Catra mumbles softly, nudging Adora’s shoulder with her own. “It makes us all worry.”  
  
Adora frowns a bit, feeling bad for worrying ‘everyone’. “I wish I could explain it. I don’t understand why it’s so...”, she trails off, not even able to continue the sentence. Seeing Brightmoon again fills her with an odd sense of dread, but the place is so beautiful. Why would such a place cause such a negative feeling? “So— Is that them?”, Adora asks as she points at the two standing by the gates. Bow and Glimmer wave at the sight of them, looking awkward, but friendly.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
Scorpia concentrates hard at the foot of the Black Garnet. She remembers one of her mothers holding her as she shows it to her, but doesn’t understand what she’s saying. She remembers looking down over her shoulder and seeing her tail moving slowly to jab the runestone, but at the time she didn’t understand what was happening. _Maybe my tail would absorb the energy? _She brings her tail to her lap, looking at it with a pout. “Can you even do that??”, she asks it quietly and then groans when it doesn't answer back. As if it could. “Great, now you're just talking to yourself...“  
  
“Research proves that talking to yourself does help hypothesis making and answering questions!”, Entrapta calls from her computer, causing Scorpia to jerk. She’d forgotten the other was here. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have blurted that out.” Entrapta grins sheepishly as she wheels around to Scorpia and goes over. “What are you thinking? I don’t think you’ll be able to draw power the same way the other princesses do, and we’ve already tested that theory a lot...”  
  
Scorpia sighs, leaning back against the Black Garnet. “I think my mom drew power from sticking her stinger against it, but I don’t...understand. How can it draw in?”  
  
Entrapta puts a hand on her chin in thought, humming before she snaps her fingers. “Oh!! Oh, I know!! You said Shadow Weaver had a crystal embedded in her mask, right?? What if we make something like that for your tail! It’ll be close to the runestone and maybe it’ll draw some of the power and it’ll flow into you!”  
  
Scorpia bites her lip when Shadow Weaver is mentioned. She’s caused her a lot of pain, albeit indirectly. All the things she’s done to Adora, and to her friend to get to Adora makes her sick. She isn’t sure she wants to do anything in connection to that woman. “I don’t know.... Shadow Weaver did a lot of bad things to someone I care about...a lot.”  
  
Entrapta frowns a bit, pulling her welding mask over her head. Seeing Scorpia sad or maybe frightened makes her uncomfortable, because she doesn’t know what she could do. She doesn’t understand what the other is feeling, having never felt it herself. She wants to know so badly. She reaches out gently with her hand, taking off her glove so she can touch Scorpia’s pincer. “Hey... Hey, it’s okay. It wouldn’t make you like her at all. You don’t want to hurt people with it, you just want to help. It’s your family’s heritage anyways. You have all the rights to it.” Her heart beats quickly, anxiety growing by the second. _Wrong wrong wrong everything is wrong this isn’t working I’m wrong she’s going to say I’m wrong and--_  
  
“Y-Yeah?”, Scorpia asks, looking up finally. She pulls Entrapta into a big hug, squeezing her tight. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not about the methods! It’s about what I’m doing with it, and it _is_ my stone!!” Relief and acceptance rushes through her, making her feel lighter. Her arms loosen enough so she doesn’t trap the other princess. “Thank you so much for that. I think I’ll take you up on that. So it’ll be made of metal and we’ll socket a crystal or a piece of the Black Garnet to it?”  
  
Entrapta nods excitedly, “That’s right!! And I’ll need to have the metal band on your tail before we socket it to it. It helps connection wise so it’s not just something we put on your tail. I’ll make it for you!” She slips out of Scorpia’s arms and gets to work, moving about in the lab with her hair, picking things up and finding a blow torch. Scorpia watches her work, amazed at how quick and efficient she is. “Don’t mind me, I’m just going to measure your tail.” As quick as she says it, two locks of hair measure the part of her tail before the stinger before Scorpia even gets words out of her mouth. There’s suddenly a loud hiss and the room fills with steam. When it clears, Scorpia is pouting as her hair is sticking to her now from the sweat. She then slicks it back into place, shaking her head in amusement in time to feel hands on her tail and a clamp. “Tadaaaaah!!!”  
  
Scorpia turns and grabs her tail protectively, only to see two small slots where gems would be socketed. “Wow, it... It fits really nice. Why are there two slots?”  
  
“I thought the smaller one, we could just test it out and when you get the hang of it, we can use a bigger one”, Entrapta answers with a goofily proud grin. “Do you like it?”  
  
“...I love it. You think of everything!! You’re such a genius, I can’t wait till we figure out Adora’s sword for her. Maybe it could even lead us to her”, Scorpia says enthusiastically.  
  
Entrapta gasps and jumps up and down at that idea, “Ohh!!! Oh!!! Like a homing device because it has that stone in it!!! Good idea!!!!” She looks to Scorpia’s tail, and then back to the Black Garnet. She carefully chips off a little piece of it to fit in the smaller slot before she sockets the gem to the metal band. “Okay... Now how to you feel?”  
  
Scorpia jolts a bit when the fragment fits to her adornment. She can feel a new energy, albeit faint, flow into her. “I-I think I feel it. What do I do??”  
  
Entrapta gets really excited now, breathing heavily and panicking at the same time. “Uhh!!! Okay, just— I don’t know!!”  
  
With that, Scorpia panics as well. She watches as little black sparks come from it, making her assume that she’s absorbed a little too much there. “I’ll try to absorb it into my tail!!”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
Adora walks slowly behind Bow and Glimmer, who have offered to give the soldier a tour of Brightmoon, to ‘jog’ her memory. “It’s okay if you don’t remember anything, Adora. You were mostly an adventurer in the woods. Or on missions, so you’d probably never seen a lot of this...”, Bow says in a squeaky voice, earning an elbow from Catra.  
  
“You didn’t have a room, you and Catra shared hers”, Glimmer says, smirking at Catra in a way that says revenge. Making her lie to the poor girl who had all aspects of her life stolen from her right before her very eyes. At least she can find a way to punish her.  
  
Catra snorts, smirking right back with a shit eating grin. “She was going to stay with me in my room anyway”, she whispers to Glimmer, who promptly groans. “Okay, okay, I think she’s seen everything. Can we get something to eat please?”  
  
“Yeah, please? I’m starving... What color bars do you guys have?”, Adora asks, a foggy memory of food bars coming to her mind at the thought of food. She remembers the grey ones taste best.  
  
That stops the other three dead in their tracks, but also insights fear into Catra. Anxiety rises in her, fearing that Adora’s starting to remember things and that she will lose her again. She’s going to have to do all this again. Before Glimmer or Bow can ask what she’s talking about, Catra steps forward quickly. “Uhh, there’s no more! I ate them all... There won’t be anymore ever again! Let’s just eat whatever they have...”, she says awkwardly as she loops her arm through Adora’s and starts them walking.  
  
Glimmer lets the two get ahead and pulls Bow by the arm, “Do you know what she’s talking about??”  
  
“I think it’s the things Catra told me about one day. She said the brown ones tasted best to her. Then that none of them tasted as good as the food she eats now. Maybe since now she’s getting actual food, she’s getting healthier. Remember how small her body was before? It’s a little bigger now, isn’t it?”, Bow says as he rubs the spot on his side where Catra elbowed him earlier.  
  
Glimmer looks to his side, then to Catra’s back. Her sides _did_ seem a little fuller, and her legs. She smiles to herself, glad she was able help her not worry about her hunger. “Yeah, now that you mention it. I think I bumped into her butt the other day, not realizing it was closer to me than usual when she curled up in my bed.”  
  
Bow lets out a soft whine, “Awh! She slept on your bed?”  
  
“Yeah, I think she had a nightmare... She didn’t say anything and was gone when I woke up”, the princess says, blushing a little at the memory again. “It was sweet. I’m glad she feels she can come to me about those kind of things.”  
  
Bow nods, “She talked to me about that. It was a nightmare about that Shadow Weaver. She said she was glad you didn't try to touch her or anything.”  
  
Glimmer smiles at that, really glad that Catra is warming up to them so well. At first, it felt like they were just business, but now.. They’re actually friends. When they round the corner into the dining hall, she sees Catra with a bunch of food in one of her arms against her chest, feeding the ones she had before to Adora to see if she likes them. The girl already seems to feel at home, up to antics so quickly with Catra. “I’m going to tell my mom what’s up, okay? Don’t want her to just run into Adora and think she’s an intruder.... Keep an eye on them”, Glimmer says as she teleports away.  
  
Seeing the sparkle gives Adora a sick feeling in her stomach, remembering something she can’t even get a grasp on. She recognizes them and feels pain in her chest, along with a sense of failure. _Why do I feel this way? Why does it hurt? I feel so much anger...._ Her thoughts are interrupted by a pastry being pushed against her lips. She looks back to Catra, her earnest and happy face, shining with mischief. She takes a bite anyways and then her whole face grimaces in disgust. “Oh gross!! What is that??”  
  
Catra snorts, “Something called lemon tart!!” She laughs and squeaks as she ducks a playful push before dropping the tart. She then sees her lunge for her and runs away laughing with the human on her tail. She then hears Bow’s frantic voice calling to wait up along with Adora’s laughter. She feels her heart soar in this moment, feeling everything might be perfect now.


	13. closure pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra rolls over in the bed and stretches, claws scratching the wood of her tree walls. She then gets out of bed and climbs up her tree and out a window. She sniffs the air, trying to catch Adora’s scent so she can find where she is. After she catches it, she weaves her way through the trees to find her. She lands gently above her, watching her pace back and forth. Good, now be a good little soldier and stay...She runs through the branches of the trees, limber enough to make the distance between some of them here and there. Finally, she reaches the edge of the Fright Zone and gazes up. She narrows her eyes, a sick feeling washing over her as she starts having second thoughts. She remembers how they sneaked in before and uses that way again, but this time it goes a lot faster. She knew she should’ve done it alone originally. However, she wouldn’t have Adora now had she gotten to her sooner. Or would she be grateful to me for saving her she’d finally come with me? The thought lingers in the back of her mind as she sneaks in through the prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I am so sorry for this two month late addition! Things got really hectic at school, and I am unsure whether or not the next semester will be the same. However, I do only have classes on MWF aside from an hour at the end of TTH. And an internship, but that's pretty chill. I will hopefully write more, if not, I will try not to let it be so long again.

“_Scorpia? Why do you call me sunshine, again?”, Adora’s voice is quiet and soft, sleepiness threatening to take her. She curls up against Scorpia’s side and feels a large arm wrap around her. She smiles and kisses her cheek._  
  
_Scorpia smiles at the kiss, then turns to kiss Adora on the lips. She doesn’t mind explaining it again. She actually loves getting to tell Adora what she thinks of her. Especially after a day like today, where Shadow Weaver ordered her to receive special training from veteran Force Captains. Adora returned to her with a broken nose and bruises on her. Thankfully, it was only a handful. She told her that they had been ordered to beat her into a pulp. Scorpia doesn’t understand why Shadow Weaver would have someone who is practically her daughter treated that way. She then blinks, realizing she has the girl in her arms. She gently lifts the bandages from her nose. “I think you’re good now”, she murmurs, distracted briefly by that worry. “So you want to know why I call you sunshine... Okay. When my parents where little, their parents would tell them about this great big ball of light in the sky. They called it ‘the sun’. This was a thousand years ago... There was a warrior princess named She-Ra, fighting the Horde, my moms told me. My grand parents never even saw her. Come to think of it... I never even saw my grandfather.“_  
  
_Adora raises an eyebrow, “She-ra? Interesting, I guess she’s dead now, huh?”_  
  
_“She is”, Scorpia nods. “But she took the sun with her. And the stars. They didn’t feel safe anymore, since there was no light. They relied on the reflections of light from the moons, but the world survived, I guess.” She gently strokes Adora’s cheek, smiling at her softly. “That’s where you come in. There’s something about you that shines in my life... You’re so bright. You make me smile and I just know you’re the brightest thing in the Fright Zone... You’re _my _sun.”_  
  
  
Adora awakens with a start, tears already rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes flit around the room as she’s disoriented, not sure where she is. “Adora... Adora! I’m right here, are you okay?”, Catra’s voice rings out from her side and she instantly calms down. She brings her knees to her chest and closes her eyes tight as she wipes them on her knees. “What happened?”  
  
Adora breathes heavily, trying to answer that herself. "I—I don’t know.. There was a woman named Scorpia and I just feel so sad. I don’t know her, but I feel like I do", she says with a weak voice, trying to hold it together from the new, overwhelming sadness she’s feeling.   
  
Catra gulps, realizing Adora is starting to remember more things now. She sighs and scowls, looking away. “Sounds like Shadow Weaver used someone to get into your head while you were undercover”, she says with a voice of disdain. She shakes her head and gently grabs Adora’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you, just like you are for me... We made a promise to always look out for each other.”  
  
Adora feels like something is wrong with that, but she doesn’t know enough to trust the gut feeling. She leans her head into Catra’s hand and finds herself suddenly wishing it was that woman’s pincer from her dream. It startles her and her eyes snap open. “I think I’m going to go for a walk... I need to clear my head. I’ll be out in the woods”, Adora says quickly and gets dressed. She heads out of the castle of Brightmoon and begins to wander around the Whispering Woods.   
  
  
Catra grumbles as she watches her leave, sitting up in bed. _She’s going to remember everything soon enough... I don’t think I can keep up the lie... I need to find a way to make her lose those memories again. Permanently, this time. There’s only one way I can do that, but it would require Shadow Weaver’s magic...That means I’d have to sneak back into The Horde. I guess I could grab Adora’s dumb sword while I’m out so she doesn’t go charging in after it and get herself killed..._  
  
Catra rolls over in the bed and stretches, claws scratching the wood of her tree walls. She then gets out of bed and climbs up her tree and out a window. She sniffs the air, trying to catch Adora’s scent so she can find where she is. After she catches it, she weaves her way through the trees to find her. She lands gently above her, watching her pace back and forth. _Good, now be a good little soldier and stay..._She runs through the branches of the trees, limber enough to make the distance between some of them here and there. Finally, she reaches the edge of the Fright Zone and gazes up. She narrows her eyes, a sick feeling washing over her as she starts having second thoughts. She remembers how they sneaked in before and uses that way again, but this time it goes a lot faster. She knew she should’ve done it alone originally. However, she wouldn’t have Adora now had she gotten to her sooner. _Or would she be grateful to me for saving her she’d finally come with me? _The thought lingers in the back of her mind as she sneaks in through the prison.  
  
She passes one of the cells and stops as she smells something familiar. “...Ca...tra?”, a familiar voice calls her name, causing her tail to frizz up. However, this voice sounds weaker than she remembers. She turns back to find Shadow Weaver in her cell, just sitting there with a broken mask. She feels so glad she even had the idea to venture back now, smirking widely.  
  
“What are _you_ doing in here, Shadow Weaver?”, she asks awkwardly, standing from her crouched position. “Your mask is cracked, were you able to hide your ugly face quick enough before you traumatized anyone else?”  
  
Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes, “Enough, insolent little brat... It seems... I have been usurped for disobeying Hordak in my efforts to keep the Black Garnet.. The trash you left took it from me, and Force Captain Scorpia aided her.”  
  
Catra blinks, barely caring what happened to her, honestly. It’s what she deserves, for putting her through so much shit growing up. “Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. You took away Adora’s memories, didn’t you?”  
  
“And what if I did? She must be quite a handful...”, Shadow Weaver retorts before chuckling. “What are you even here for? You defected, there’s nothing for you here...”  
  
The feline gulps, eyes hardening as she realizes she has to ask for Shadow Weaver’s help. “I’m...actually here for help. From you...”  
  
Behind the mask, the sorceress’s eyes widen in surprise. “My help, of all people? What makes you think I’ll help you?”  
  
Catra looks around before crouching and walking up to the bars. “Tell me what I can use to keep Adora from remembering everything, and I’ll help you escape. Deal?”, she says with a grumble. She huffs, hating to even have to need Shadow Weaver’s help. It means nothing, it’s just an obstacle to get over... At least, she hopes.   
  
Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes at Catra, not trusting her for a second. However, she is just as shocked as before to hear that Catra wants to keep Adora in the dark. “And why would I help you do that?”  
  
“Um, you can rot here and die for all I care? I just need to keep Adora from remembering everything. I’ll go through your chambers if I have to.” Catra crosses her arms, appearing annoyed now. “I’m really just asking to make it an easier search.” Now that Shadow Weaver is trapped, and powerless, she feels she can get away with a lot more than she could before. She smirks, knowing that now would be a good opportunity to place herself in Shadow Weaver’s place. She wouldn’t have Queen Angella or Princess Glimmer lording their power over her.. And Hordak seemed reasonable at times... _But what about Adora? I’ll bring her with me. No, I’ll go get her when it’s time, if she does remember everything, she’ll come back to The Horde once she realizes she was kidnapped... She’ll be by my side and we can finally run this joint. Just like we always planned before Glimmer and Bow interrupted... _“I know your chambers like the back of my hand.”  
  
“Not anymore you don’t”, Shadow Weaver says with a weak laugh. “The princess you left has taken it over, and she has these... special bots everywhere. ..If I tell you where a special item is, would you bring it to me when you go? It’s important to me... It’s all I have left of before. It’s my old Sorcerer’s Guild Badge. You can find a vial you can mix into some food that would keep Adora’s memories away forever, if that’s what you want....but I want to know why?”  
  
Catra smirks and turns away, not wanting to let herself get caught up. “That is _not_ up for discussion—“  
  
Shadow Weaver shifts closer, “Oh, I see. You think she has chosen you and you wish to prolong that? I should’ve never let her keep you around...”  
  
“... Why? Why does it matter?”, Catra responds coldly, before she feels her chest grow tight. She feels pain that she’s pushed down, tried so hard to hide for Adora’s sake. So she wouldn’t feel guilty, so she wouldn’t worry. “Why do you treat me like shit? What did I ever do to you??”  
  
“You were in the way. You drag my perfect Adora down with you, and don’t take responsibility for your actions!!”, Shadow Weaver snaps. “You are what makes her nothing.”  
  
Catra’s eyes widen and she grits her teeth, hair and fur of her tail frizzing up. “You never believed me anyway!! You could never believe it was Adora who wanted to go to your chambers, who accidentally wrecked things, who got me into sticky situations with her!! Do you not understand what people are!? People make mistakes— Adora—“  
  
Shadow Weaver clenches her fist, wishing her mask had not been broken so. She wants to strangle the mangy feline for still blaming Adora for the trouble they’d get into. “Because you’ve been irresponsible and lazy since you were young!! You’ve shown no ambitions, no remorse, nothing!!”  
  
Catra’s eyes sting and a choked sob escapes her before she tries to stifle her. “Why was I never good enough for you?? Really, I want to know.”  
  
Shadow Weaver sighs and leans against the wall, unable to pull her shackles further. She starts to calm down, looking to the ground at her empty meal tray from earlier that day. “Because you remind me of myself... You always have. Nothing was ever easy for me, either. I wasn’t born into power like the others and Adora." Catra is completely caught off guard by this, her ears lowering and her tears stopping. "I had to fight for my power to earn it, so why should it be any different for you?“  
  
“I-I was a child, what could I have possibly done to deserve the way you treated me??”, Catra demands, sinking to her knees on the other side of the barrier. This is definitely not the conversation she expected to be having. “You’re old and bitter and weak, I’m _nothing_ like you!” Catra stands and leaves the cell, blinking away tears as she denies to herself Shadow Weaver’s words. _I’m nothing like her. I’m better, I won’t lose my power once I get it. I won’t lose. I’ll have Adora and we won’t lose._  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Scorpia sulks in her room, hugging one of the pillows from her bed. It’s the one Adora would bring from her own room so they could both be comfortable. It still smells like her, faintly. She misses her so much, she wishes she could just go to her. But she would need her sword, and what if she doesn’t remember her? _She probably doesn’t... That was some intense magic. It would be best if I connect to my stone first, like Entrapta said_. She sighs and buries her face in the pillow before deciding that she needs answers. She needs to know why Shadow Weaver treated Adora the way she did, and her friend. Maybe she can understand and help them work it out. Shadow Weaver is basically Adora’s mom or... something. With that decided, she sits the pillow down gently and heads out to Shadow Weaver’s holding cell.   
  
“Another visitor? What a surprise... I must be pretty famous..”, Shadow Weaver tiredly drones when she notices a shadow in her cell. She turns to see Scorpia, and narrows her eyes. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”  
  
Remembering that Shadow Weaver’s source of power is gone, Scorpia decides it is safe to enter. She still feels nervous, however. She stays on the far side of the cell. “I.. I came for answers. If you aren’t too tired, could I ask you questions? ...About you and Adora?”  
  
Shadow Weaver blinks, it is just a day of surprises for her. The woman’s politeness reminds her of when Adora was young, before Catra had arrived. When little Adora would have a bad dream, she would run to Shadow Weaver’s chambers and knock on her door. She was so politely ask if she was asleep and apologize for waking her.  
  
  
_Sniveling, a young Adora stands at the door to Shadow Weaver’s chambers. It makes her feel so small and so much more scared. Still, Shadow Weaver is the person taking care of her, actually caring for her. She trusts her, and when the door opens, she stiffens and looks up at her. “I-I’m sowwy, did I wake you? I had a bad dweam about the forwest. I-I got lost and I couldn’t find you..”_  
  
_Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes for a moment, trying to see. The girl looks so earnest, so scared. It tugs at her heart, reminding her of young and innocent Micah. She hopes Adora stays that way forever, but she needs to be self reliant. “And what do you need from me, dear Adora?”, she asks in a soft, yet firm voice as she crouches down to her level. “Remember, you must ask, I can not read your mind.” Softest she can manage at 2am._  
  
_Adora stops crying long enough to wipe her eyes and nods. “I-I”, she stammers and looks down. She feels her chin being lifted up by Shadow Weaver and hears ‘eye contact’ before she looks at the mask’s eyes. “C-Can I sleep with you tonight? I’m afwaid.”_  
  
_“That’s a good girl. You may sleep in my chambers tonight, but you need to learn to trust the other cadets. I can’t do this for you always, you need to be a big girl”, Shadow Weaver murmurs as she picks the girl up. She levitates back into her chambers and prepares her a cot near her own bed. “You can not rely on others.”_  
  
_“Y-Yes ma’am”, Adora says, starting to feel better, yet guilty now. She feels bad for disturbing Shadow Weaver for something so small. She does sleep easier being near Shadow Weaver that night, feeling safe. She tries to quietly put away her cot the next morning as not to disturb the sorceress and to thank her. However, she is small and weak. Shadow Weaver pretends not to notice when Adora leaves the room early to be in time for speech training, but feels a little proud of her._  
  
  
  
“I’m not able to have children... Adora was the closest to one I would have. Hordak wanted to throw her away, he could not take care of a baby and I never questioned where it came from. So I decided to take her under my wing and, well... That’s why I discipline her more. There’s something special about her, I’m not sure what it is, but... I needed to make sure she knew how to earn her way, instead of have it given to her”, Shadow Weaver says. “She was a lot more receptive than Catra... Catra was a toddler when she arrived, and a magicat. I didn’t expect anything from her...but I tried. She ignored me and has been lazy. Has been dragging Adora down—“  
  
Scorpia cuts her off, “That’s— That’s simply not true, excuse me? She has become Force Captain and has taken so many territories for us.”  
  
Shadow Weaver looks to her, “Without Catra being around, she has. There was nothing to distract her anymore... And you. You’re a lot like Adora. I assigned you to be her partner because I knew she would be happy with you, and would stay, not question anything, not lose her way. You weren’t distracting enough.”  
  
“Wait, what? You used me as a distraction so you could manipulate her more? That’s.. That’s just wrong”, Scorpia says, appalled. She looks out the cell and then back to Shadow Weaver. “What is wrong with you??”  
  
“I...”, Shadow Weaver starts, looking down as she questions herself. “I didn’t want them to be like me, or spoiled. I wanted them to be better.”  
  
Scorpia’s stance softens, looking down at Shadow Weaver. Her reason doesn’t justify how bad she hurt them, but she feels better that it wasn’t an outright malicious reason. At least, she hopes. She frowns and sighs. “That’s still not right. There’s no excuse for what you did.”  
  
Shadow Weaver looks up at Scorpia, “I plan on escaping The Horde. I can maybe redeem myself by sharing information to the Rebellion.”  
  
“... I’ll go with you. I don’t trust your word that you’ll go there, to Adora”, Scorpia says sternly.  
  
“She won’t remember you”, Shadow Weaver says as Scorpia exits the chamber and activates the barrier.   
  
Scorpia narrows her eyes, “I don’t care. I will make sure she is safe, and do whatever I can to keep her that way.” She then leaves to go pack and inform Entrapta of her plan.


	14. reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow Weaver sits up, and is surprised by Catra’s actually bringing the badge. “Wow..”, she says as she looks up at Catra. “Well, I suppose I didn’t give much detail of it.. There’s many vials... Why didn’t you bring them for me to point them out?” She eyes Catra closely, watching her fist clench and unclench.
> 
> Catra shrugs, hands going to her hips as she comes up with an excuse. “I didn’t think about it, okay? Besides.. I’m not sure if I want to do that.”
> 
> “What do you have in mind that would deter you from being Adora’s chosen path in her current state?”, Shadow Weaver asks with a small, cruelly amused laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finished this right at 11:59 pm, but of 1/2. However, it took a minute to get here! anyways, wanted to make this happen on the first day of the new year in hopes that it would be like, it would happen more often for me this year! like in hopes of getting art requests on ko-fo.com/kfgart because I sometimes don't have ideas and need a bit of cash.
> 
> hope y'all like this though!

“Okay, I found your little trinket or whatever. Couldn’t find the vial... You have so much junk”, Catra says once she drops from above and lands before the barrier. In her search, she managed to find out a lot of things. She discovered that Entrapta is not dead. She knew the princess was smart enough to escape those fiery, purging corridors. However, now the others believe she is dead and here Catra is thinking about staying, taking her rightful place as second in command. Or at least Force Captain. She _does _indeed have valuable information on the Rebellion for the Horde. She’s always wanted to rule, since Adora told her she wanted to be a Force Captain some day. It came out of no where, but she knew she didn’t want to just be stuck while Adora soared. She wanted to be calling the shots with her, because she knew she would be safe. She used her stealth to watch as someone brought Shadow Weaver dinner and opened the barrier to serve it. She punches in the code and steps in. Her tail swishes lowly behind her with agitation, just as her ears flick occasionally. She knows nothing can be done to her, but still. Just being near her, despite the fact that Shadow Weaver is vulnerable and powerless...  
  
Shadow Weaver sits up, and is surprised by Catra’s actually bringing the badge. “Wow..”, she says as she looks up at Catra. “Well, I suppose I didn’t give much detail of it.. There’s many vials... Why didn’t you bring them for me to point them out?” She eyes Catra closely, watching her fist clench and unclench.   
  
Catra shrugs, hands going to her hips as she comes up with an excuse. “I didn’t think about it, okay? Besides.. I’m not sure if I want to do that.”  
  
“What do you have in mind that would deter you from being Adora’s chosen path in her current state?”, Shadow Weaver asks with a small, cruelly amused laugh.   
  
Catra growls and kicks over the tray of food. “I have a chance to gain power here, and I can definitely do it. I have information on the Rebellion and I know how they work. Hordak would be delighted to have this information and make me Force Captain.” She huffs before continuing to explain herself. “Then. When she remembers, she’ll come back to the Horde and we’ll both be Force Captains, and we can go back to normal.”  
  
Shadow Weaver nods, raising a hand and pointing a finger to her. “I see you’ve thought it through. Learned to turn around a situation and make it better...”, she says and then sighs. “I may or may not be around to see it. They’ve yet to decide.”  
  
Catra feels a surge of pride run through her, feeling as though Shadow Weaver may actually be proud of her. She calms down somewhat and takes a step closer. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a little proud of me”, she says, crossing her arms and tries to look unbothered. “But, I do know better.” She leans against the wall and looks down at Shadow Weaver with her best cold face. “Well... If you’re still around.... And.....”, Catra starts awkwardly, looking away quickly. “Maybe I could...visit occasionally. Tell you how good my life is with Adora and just rub your face in it. If you can figure up a reason for them to keep you around...”  
  
Shadow Weaver watches as Catra sits next to her, thinking how foolish the girl is. Part of her does feel a little proud of Catra for finding a way to get herself to a position of power. _All on her own... Not riding off Adora’s coat tails. Maybe she’s finally learned something. _  
  
Catra places the badge in Shadow Weaver’s hand, looking at her. “Well?”, she asks, wanting an answer.  
  
“..I’ll see what I can do”, the sorceress says, almost sounding soft. She puts the badge in her other hand and she reaches up, cupping Catra’s face. She gently strokes her hair tuft just below her ear as she does it and she sighs.   
  
Completely caught off guard, the magicat’s eyes widen before they close at the affection. She leans into it, having dreamed of this moment. Shadow Weaver showing her the same kind of attention she shows Adora. This must mean she’s proud of her. She coughs and moves to stand when the hand is withdrawn. “I’ll go take care of business, then.” She leaves the cell and and closes the barrier, smiling a bit to herself before leaving.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Scorpia returns to Shadow Weaver’s cell in time to see her drawing out a spell with bright blue dust. She enters the cell and runs up to her, but a slight fear keeps her from getting too close to the drawn spell circle. “Wh-What are you doing??”, she politely demands.  
  
“I’m about to leave. If you still plan to make sure I _do _go to Bright Moon, I suggest you grab onto my shoulder”, Shadow Weaver explains. She breathes slowly, feeling a little exhausted as incredible power of before courses through her. The power she took when she taught Micah is eating her alive from the inside. However, it won’t kill her just yet. As Scorpia does as advised, she holds onto Shadow Weaver’s shoulder and closes her eyes.   
  
When Scorpia next opens them, she is standing outside of the gates to Bright Moon. Shadow Weaver staggers and Scorpia catches her, guiding her arm onto her own shoulders. She sneaks them in and isn’t really sure where to go. She decides maybe she should find the Queen, or the general. Perhaps the princess, even, since she is one herself. As she is wandering the halls with Shadow Weaver on her arm, she hears a scream. It is followed by a distant familiar voice, '“What are you doing here, Adora??” At that, Scorpia's face lights up and she almost runs to the door she heard it from. She knocks on the door excitedly, her politeness winning over the urge to just run in and hug Adora.   
  
When she hears a huff and then sparkling, she yelps when Glimmer suddenly appears outside the door, in front of her. Both women scream and Shadow Weaver groans. “W-Wait!!!", Scorpia pleas.  
  
“Horde Soldier!!!”, Glimmer yells.  
  
“Wait, please, I need help!!!”, Scorpia says desperately, gesturing to her shoulder as the doors open. A nervous and tired looking Adora appears in the open door and Scorpia stares at her, losing all track of thought. They look at each other, but Adora only remembers the woman from her dreams. She gasps softly, opening her mouth to speak, but is unable to make a word. Guards swarm them and take Shadow Weaver from Scorpia’s shoulder before she herself is bound in vines. An even more sleepy Perfuma is beside Adora now, cupping her face and checking over her. “I-Is something wrong?”  
  
Glimmer disappears in sparkles to go to her mother in the royal bed chambers.   
  
Perfuma decides she will make Adora some super tea to help her sleep after whatever..this is has been situated. She looks to Scorpia now, before she is escorted away. Perfuma sees Adora following Scorpia with her eyes and decides to gently tug her along. “Here, we’ll see what’s going on and then I’ll make us some tea so you can sleep. Then I’ll let you join me for my morning zen session in the morning, okay?”, she says with a yawn.  
  
Adora smiles sheepishly, “Oh, you don’t have to do all that.. I’ll be fine.”  
  
“Adora. You look like you’re about to pass out..”, Perfuma says, waving her hands a bit. “Not to alarm you, but you could drop at any minute. You’ve hardly been sleeping at all, have you?”  
  
That makes Adora sigh, knowing Perfuma is right. She barely knows this person, but she can read her like a book. She wonders if she knew her before. “I have a hard time sleeping alone.... And I’m worried about Catra. And... I keep having dreams about her”, she says, but whispers the last part. She points at Scorpia’s back.   
  
Having been filled in by Glimmer and Bow, Perfuma can see that. It must be memories. “The tea I’ll make will help with that”, she says. “I’ll make some with chamomile and lavender.” She makes the two appear in her hands, showing them to Adora. She’s started teaching her about flowers here and there, whenever she’s curious. The guards usher Scorpia into a room and stand guard outside. They allow Perfuma and Adora to enter.  
  
Scorpia looks around, amazed at how nice this room is. “Woooow, I can’t believe I get to stay here”, she says. “Everything is so... soft looking.” She goes around, touching the pillows and appearing surprised at how puffy it is. Adora watches her, finding her...pretty cute for some reason in this moment. She smiles a bit, thinking how she thought the same thing when she was first in Glimmer’s room. Scorpia turns around and sees Adora and Perfuma. She recognizes Perfuma from the princess prom and figures it must be her vines binding her. “Um... Hello again...", she says to Perfuma. She looks to Adora now, feeling her heart beat quicker. She gulps, feeling nervous and sad that Adora doesn’t seem to remember her. She takes in a deep breath before sitting down, making herself seem less intimidating. "Do you...know who I am?“, she asks softly.  
  
Adora’s chest feels tight when she is addressed. She feels an intense longing inside her, making her ache. How would she know this woman? Everything about her is so familiar.. Her eyes, her lips, how strong she appears. She thinks she can feel how Scorpia would hug her, kiss her, whisk her away. She feels their comfort and their love. “...From my dreams...”, Adora answers softly. “But... right now. I feel you might have been important to me. Were we close?” Seeing the flash of heartbreak in Scorpia’s eyes makes her wish she did know her. She hates that she caused her to feel that.   
  
“I-It’s okay, sunshine, it’s okay”, Scorpia whispers after seeing the guilt on Adora’s face. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault...” She wishes she could reach out and hug her. However, that probably wouldn’t be good for Adora right now. “The woman I brought should be able to get everything straight... Don’t worry, you should remember everything soon enough.”  
  
“...You had someone with you?”, Adora asks, smiling sheepishly. She had been so distracted by Scorpia, she didn’t notice Shadow Weaver on her shoulder.  
  
Scorpia laughs softly, shaking her head. “Yeah, but it’s okay. I was distracted by you, too. I didn’t notice she had been removed until I had these vines on me”, she says, winking at Adora to show she understands.   
  
When Scorpia winks at her, Adora finds herself blushing and rubbing her neck. She kind of laughs as well, glancing to Perfuma. “I think I can handle her. Would you mind making that tea?”, she asks.   
  
“Oh, sure. I’ll go see what’s going on while I’m at it”, Perfuma says as she takes the lavender and chamomile from Adora. She then leaves and doesn’t close the door all the way. As she walks through the halls, she notices the lights to the war room open and enters to find Glimmer, Queen Angella, Glimmer’s aunt and Shadow Weaver. Shadow Weaver is trapped in some sort of magic barrier while she is being questioned. “So what’s...”  
  
Glimmer turns to see Perfuma and stands aside. “She claims she’s done with the Horde and has come to aid us. I don’t believe it one bit, though... She also said she may be able to restore Adora’s memories. I also doubt that, but.. That would be up to Adora, if she wants to try. Maybe that’s why she’s been having such a hard time sleeping?”  
  
Perfuma shakes her head, “No, it’s the other one. She seems pretty, uh...” She laughs a bit, putting her fingers together. She’s so tired right now, gods. “They seem to be hitting it off. I was about to make the two of us some tea so she would be able to sleep.”  
  
“That..sounds like a good idea. I trust you to make sure we don’t lose the other prisoner, and to keep Adora safe. I kind of feel bad I snapped at her earlier when I woke up and found her in my bed... It was just kind of scary. Like when Catra did that. I, uh... really didn’t expect Adora to do it, too”, Glimmer says. She frowns and hugs herself, rubbing her arm.  
  
Perfuma sighs, “She is fine. I’m sorry, but I really need to go make this tea, or I will not be rested enough to fully zen in the morning. I’ll keep her okay.” She gives her a small smile and leaves to go make tea.  
  
  


* * *

Catra returns to the cell excitedly, not even looking inside as she enters the code. "It worked, I'm in!! He even made me second in command since he's planning to get rid of you! Now you just need to think of something to keep-" She stops when she hears nothing. Her ears and tail fall when she realizes the cell is empty. Her chest feels tight and she is so confused. _Did he get rid of her already?? _She notices the tray she had kicked before covering up some scribbling and moves it aside to find a burned spell circle. _N-No... She escaped..._ She feels distraught for a moment, trying to figure out what all could have happened between now and the last time she talked to Shadow Weaver. She gave her the dumb badge she wanted and left. _It was just some dumb, slightly dinged up metal... _She falls to her knees and hugs herself as the realization suddenly hits her that she was used with no remorse. Not only that, but she happily played into Shadow Weaver's scheme. Tears sting her eyes and a choked sob escapes her before she cries out in emotional agony. _I can't believe I thought she was proud of me, that she actually started caring...!!!!_ When her breakdown is over, she throws the tray at the wall before leaving.

Catra goes to the Black Garnet chamber and starts cleaning out Shadow Weaver's trash. However, midway through, she is startled by a bot bigger than her. 

"Emily, what is it??", a familiar and nasal voice calls out. Catra blinks, remembering Entrapta is here now. She smirks and lets herself be escorted to the makeshift lab. A loud gasp escapes Entrapta when she sees her visitor is Catra. "Oh my gods, Catra, what are you doing here!?" She is overjoyed to have a friend still be here after Scorpia left. 

Catra blinks in surprise as she is pulled by Entrapta's hair into a hug. She squirms and manages to escape, "P-Personal space, Entrapta, remember?" She coughs and brushes herself off. "I'm the new second in command."

"Reaaallly? I didn't think you'd go back to the Horde!", Entrapta exclaims before wheeling back to her work. "What made you come back?"

Catra shrugs, before touching her red mask. "Mmm.. They didn't have answers for me. And I wasn't going to get much higher. I wasn't going to get anywhere, actually... Plus, I missed you", she partly lies. She sighs and strokes Entrapta's hair. "Have you made any friends here?"

Entrapta stiffens a bit as her hair is touched and looks back to her. She smiles and gently gives her head a pat with a tendril of hair. "I had one that just left, but I have Emily! And now I have you, too!", she says.

* * *

  
The lights are dimmed when Perfuma returns to the spare room. She finds Adora sitting beside Scorpia on the floor, nodding off on her shoulder. She feels a little annoyed, but is more overjoyed that she is tired enough to maybe be able to sleep. “Here, Adora.. I made yours with extra strength, love and zen”, Perfuma says as she gives the sleepy girl one of the cups.   
  
Adora hums sleepily as she opens her eyes to see Perfuma handing her a tea cup. She mumbles a thank you and sips it, too sleepy to notice how hot the tea is. She has half of it before she starts to fall asleep, slumping onto Scorpia.  
  
“Oh! Whoa, hey..”, Scorpia murmurs softly and tries to move in a way that would keep the rest of the tea from spilling. She feels Perfuma sit beside her other side and Scorpia decides to lean down and grab the rim of the cup with her mouth. “Do yu mine ipph I pphinish thic?”, she asks Perfuma.  
  
Perfuma shrugs, not caring as she downs her own tea. “Just do you know, it _will _knock you out.”  
  
Scorpia leans back and swallows the tea as it comes towards her from gravity. She carefully sets the cup aside by spitting it out her mouth when she lays down. To her surprise, Adora lays with her and curls against her just as she used to. Perfuma is next and she feels like they’re having a sleep over. She smiles happily, at the sleep over and having Adora beside her. She knows she must remember her... She cuddles up to her just like they used to when they went to bed. She’s also grateful that she made them a pillow pile before she sat down. Sure enough, the tea works quickly and the three of them sleep peacefully together, soft, warm and calm.


End file.
